Plum Broadway
by plumfan1
Summary: Sooo Stephanie is off to a wild goose chase in New York City. A Broadway star disappears, Ranger shows up to help and Joe is trying to get Stephanie back....Will she survive the thrills of New York City?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Anything recognizable is Janet Evanovich, the rest is me! (I broke up the big paragraph as was pointed out…I hadn't even realized it was that big :X Sorry!!! I hope that's a lot easier to read! – ok one more fix…I'm not used to posting here so my scene splits didn't show!)

There are a lot of women in the world that believe life should be simple. You are born into the world, you grow up playing Barbie dolls, dressing and accessorizing them, then dressing up and accessorizing yourself. After high school, you get married, have a hundred kids and make sure dinner is on the table every night at six o'clock. I was sure the vast majority of these women lived in the burg. They lived simple lives living in ordinary houses, raising ordinary kids, and doting on their ordinary husbands.

I grew up in the burg which is a small part of Trenton, New Jersey. I, however, was not ordinary. Right now, though, I was weighing the positives of living the ordinary life. My name is Stephanie Plum and I work as a Bond Enforcement Officer for Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. Vinnie is my weasel of a cousin that likes men, women, and, at one time, a duck.

Currently, I was seriously, again, considering switching professions. I was thinking a nice desk job at Rangeman or even stuffing tampons into boxes at the tampon factory would suffice. I mean, people that work in the tampon factory don't have to deal with bozos hanging upside down in a tree waving a gun right?

Eddie Gaskett was doing just that and I, being the brave bounty hunter that I am, was hiding behind my newly bought rusted out Geo Metro. I'd bought the Geo because work had been slow and it was the only car at the dealer I could currently afford.

Eddie Gaskett was a short man with skinny legs and a large belly. He reminded me of a chicken, and he was swearing and making threats, the gun waving erratically and I heard a shot ring out. I'd dove behind my car because he'd already shot once and shattered the passenger window on my car. I had no way to stop him and my phone was in my car. I was too afraid of Eddie shooting me to try and retrieve it.

The problem wasn't that I was afraid Eddie would shoot me on purpose, as I didn't find him exceptionally bright, but I was afraid that, during his careless gun waving, I'd be caught by a stray bullet. The reason I didn't think he was too smart was, two weeks ago my on-again off-again boyfriend Joe Morelli, was locking up his house when he heard a strange noise. He'd turned to see Eddie's bottom hanging out of a window in the house next door. Joe works for the Trenton Police Department as a plainsclothes cop, currently working homicide.

He'd walked over to see what was going on and discovered Eddie had gotten himself stuck in the window while attempting to break in and rob the place. After the fire department had gotten him unstuck, he'd been arrested for breaking and entering. I didn't think it was the smartest thing to try and break into the neighbor of a cop.

Now Eddie was FTA, bounty hunter speak for failure-to-appear, and it was my job to drag his sorry butt back into the system. He'd gotten stuck in the tree after he'd run when I'd nicely asked him to come with me to the station to reschedule his court date. He'd run to the tree and I had lunged to grab him only to have him turn and sucker punch me in the gut. While I'd laid on the ground trying to catch my breath, he'd climbed the tree only half-way he'd slipped and gotten his leg caught in some branches.

I'd heard a sickening snap as his body had flipped leaving him dangling by his broken leg. He'd kept hold of the gun that was in his hand, which he hadn't bothered to use until he was dangling helplessly. He'd started waving it and I'd then rolled to my side and moved to safety, diving behind my car as the first shot had taken place.

So there I was hunkered down behind my car debating a serious career change when a cop car pulled up across the street. Crazy Carl Costanza and his partner Big Dog climbed out of the cruiser. Carl and I had made communion together among other things. Both men had big grins on their faces and were leaning against the car watching Gaskett dangle and me hide.

"We got a call that some crazy woman chased that nice Gaskett man up a tree and he was now dangling upside down in the tree waving a gun." Carl called out. I could hear the laughter in his voice.

"I could use a little help." I called, getting irritated. Just then a sleek black, 911 Turbo Porsche pulled up behind my car and Ranger climbed out. Ranger's real name is Carlos Manoso but everyone calls him Ranger, a nickname carried over from his time spent in the Special Forces. I'd met Ranger when I'd first started working for Vinnie. He'd mentored me and now I could never tell if he showed up because he wanted to make sure I was ok or because I was the day's entertainment. Today I was certain that I was entertainment. His lips twitched as his dark eyes took in Gaskett dangling from the tree.

"Babe" he said.

"Is anyone going to help or are you all just going to stand there laughing at me?" I was beyond upset at this point. Joe and I had had a fight this morning and we'd both stormed out of the house fuming with anger. I was even more upset because Rex, my hamster and I was beginning to think the only child I'd ever have, was still in Morelli's house. This meant that I'd have to go back to his house at some point. We'd been on again but now I was feeling off again.

Carl reached into the cop cruiser and pulled out a megaphone. It was old fashioned but then, Trenton PD lived on a tight budget. It was probably left over from the seventies and on it's last leg but it still worked so it was good enough for Trenton's finest.

"Mr. Gaskett this is the police, drop the weapon." Gaskett stopped wiggling and looked around. His body seemed to deflate of energy as he caught sight of the cruiser. Once his gun had stopped waving around, Ranger ambled over to me. He reached down, picked me up, and set me on my feet. His eyes travelled down to my chest and mine followed. He was staring at a glob of powdered sugar and red jelly.

"That's not mine! Eddie Gaskett threw it at me when he answered the door!" Ranger's lips twitched again, he kissed my forehead, and then he was gone. _Jerk_ was my first thought, then I blew out a sigh. I had to admit that if it was reversed, I'd be driving up to see an FTA dangling from a tree too.

OOO

I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment building and blew out another sigh. I'd spent the better part of the afternoon waiting for the fire department to cut Eddie Gaskett out of the tree. He was then taken to the hospital under police escort and I'd followed Carl and Big Dog to the police station to collect my body receipt. I looked at the offending piece of paper in my hand and did the most mature thing I could think of and stuck out my tongue.

I got out of my car and headed into the building. I met Dillon Ruddick, the building super, in the elevator. He had a long handled paint roller over one shoulder and a can of cream colored paint in the opposite hand.

"Hey Steph." He said.

"Hey Dillon." I said.

"Rough day?"

"Very." He set down the paint can and reached into his pocket and pulled out a beer. The elevator doors opened, he handed me the beer, and he stepped off the elevator. I called thanks to him but the elevator doors had already closed. The elevator started moving again and I then realized that that had been my floor. I let out a string of cusswords and in the middle of my tirade, Mrs. Bestler got on the elevator.

"That was a pip of a fit." She said, smiling.

"Temporary insanity."

"Ain't that something, I must get that too."

"It happens." The elevator arrived back at my floor and I stepped off then headed to my apartment. I walked in, closed the door behind me, and stripped off my shirt. I then realized that there was someone in my living room, and he was sitting on my couch.

"Babe." Ranger said. Even from the distance I could see his eyes darken and I felt heat flush my face and neck. He rose and started toward me and I scrambled to pull my shirt back over my head. In my haste, my head and arm got stuck in the neck hole and I was unable to get either out. Ranger let out a bark of laughter, something rare for Ranger as Ranger was the man of mystery, emotion was something he hardly ever showed.

"Scared?" He asked as his hands skimmed up my sides, pulling the shirt up enough I could pull my arm out and slip it into the correct hole.

"Yes!" I squeaked. He grinned and pressed me into the door and kissed me hard. My knees went weak and when he pulled back I instinctively held on for fear I'd crumple to the floor if I let go. His lips twitched and he moved away and I could breathe again.

"So, uh, why are you here?"

"I was hoping you'd help me with a skip."

"Who?"

Jeremiah Laughlin."

"Who….ooooh no…no way. I'm not going anywhere near that one." Ranger trailed a finger down my arm and I shivered.

"I'll make it worth your time." I gulped and took an involuntary step backward. Ranger's lips twitched again and he dropped his hand. "I meant I'd give you seventy percent.

"Seventy?" I said. Laughlin was wanted for armed robbery, rape, and murder in the first degree. He was out on a hundred thousand dollar bond. That meant with thirty percent, I'd walk away with seven thousand dollars. Truth is I was really needed the money.

"Yes."

"Sure." I mentally slapped my head. I was willing to go after a rapist murdered for money, how insane is that?

"Pick you up at midnight. Wear something sexy." With that he pulled me against him, kissed me hard, then he was gone. Damn. How did he always do that? Why couldn't I ever leave him weak kneed and drooling while I left? Because Stephanie, I said to myself, Ranger doesn't get weak kneed and you're a dope, a big stupid dope. I stormed off to the bathroom, stripping my clothes off and leaving them wherever they fell. I stood in the shower until I was all pruny then stomped to my bedroom and pulled on some shorts, a shirt, flopped on my bed in my thinking pose.

I lay like that for half an hour before I realized that it was too quiet in my apartment. I couldn't figure it out until it hit me. Rex. I groaned. Rex was still at Morelli's house which meant I had to face Morelli to get Rex back. Not at the top of my list of things to do for the evening. I grumbled as I rolled off the bed and put on a bra. I then stormed out of the building and to my car. I was not in the mood for Morelli yet here I was, off to his house to retrieve my hamster.

OOO

I idled across the street from Morelli's house and debated whether I could live without Rex for the night. After all, Morelli would take care of him, he knew enough to feed Rex. I blew air out of the corner of my mouth and shut off the car. I couldn't do it. There was no way I was leaving Rex. I angled out of the car and strode across the street to Morelli's house and lifted my hand to knock. The door opened just before my knuckles made contact and I rapped on Joyce Barnhardt's head instead.

I froze, my mouth open in shock, though a small part of me wanted to laugh at knocking on Joyce's head. I could feel color creeping up my neck as a slow smile spread across her face. What I wouldn't give to wipe that smile off. Joyce had been a rotten kid growing up, spitting in people's food and looking under bathroom stalls in the girls' bathroom. When we grew up I caught her bare-assed and playing hide-the-salami with my husband Dickie Orr soon after we'd gotten married. Dickie and I were no longer married but Joyce and I were still enemies.

"Well, well, look who's here. Too bad you couldn't have gotten here ten minutes ago. You'd have found something more interesting." With that she turned to make a kissy face at Joe before flouncing down the stoop and off to her car which was parked in front of Joe's blazer. I looked at her car, half in a daze. How did I miss that?

I looked back at Joe, he was standing in the doorway, shirtless, and looking sheepish. I felt my jaw drop and I snapped it shut, elbowed myself past Morelli and into the kitchen. I snatched up Rex's cage and walked back to the door. Joe attempted to stop me, but I guess I looked livid enough that he moved. The thing is, I didn't for a minute believe Joe would sleep with Joyce Barnhardt, but I was still angry with him and this scene only served to fuel the left over anger.

"Steph, it's not what it looks like." He said, following me as I stomped to my car, wrenching the door open and placing Rex on the passenger seat. I was beyond listening and I climbed in, Morelli standing next to my door, hands on his hips. I turned the key, gunned the engine and backed into a green Ford Contour.

I swore, threw the car in park, and got out. I looked at the car, the front was mangled. I looked around, no one was around besides Joe and me, he moved toward me. I got back in my car and got a business card, wrote my information on it all the while with Joe standing outside my door running his fingers through his hair in agitation. I got out, put the card on the Ford's windshield, got back in my car and took off managing not to look at Morelli in the rearview.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Anything recognizable is Janet Evanovich, the rest is me!

I woke up to the pitter patter of rain on the window in my bedroom. I rolled over and looked outside. It was pitch black outside and so I looked at my clock. It said eleven thirty, but it felt later. I'd come home after gathering Rex and crawled in bed and bawled my eyes out. I'd then gone to the kitchen, retrieved the birthday cake from the freezer I'd bought the other day and ate the whole cake, then I'd drank a beer from the fridge and tried to watch a movie. After half an hour of the movie, I gave up and went back to bed. I'd managed to squeeze out a few more tears and then sometime after that I fell asleep.

My eyes were burning and I was sure I looked like death warmed over. I crawled out of bed and a loud thunder crack made me scream. When I opened my eyes it was pitch black in my apartment. Great, I thought, no electricity. I felt my way through my bedroom to my closet. This wasn't going to work. Ranger wanted sexy and I didn't think sexy could be accomplished in the dark. I gave up on the clothes and stumbled to the bathroom, stubbing my toe twice.

After standing under the shower for a half hour, I dried off and wrapped myself in a big fluffy towel. I was making my way back to my bedroom when I heard the lock on my front door click and the door opened. A pale beam of light shined through the door and I held my hand up and blinked. Ranger was standing there but I couldn't tell what he was thinking. It was almost impossible to figure out what Ranger was thinking. He came over to me, looked down at the top of my towel, I could feel the heat from him and I shifted uncomfortably under his stare.

"Tempting." He finally said. "But we don't have time." He held the flashlight out to me and I grabbed it, and headed into the bedroom to try and make myself sexy in the dark. It was difficult, but I managed to find a short black dress that stopped just above my knee but hugged my curves. I went to the bathroom and stared at the mirror. What on earth was I going to do with my hair? I couldn't dry my hair because the blow dryer needed electricity to work. I blew out a sigh and trudged back out to the dining room and looked at Ranger.

"This isn't going to work. I can't dry my hair."

"Babe." Ranger said. He then went to the bathroom, retrieved my hair dryer and we left my apartment. We trudged down to his Porsche and he beeped it unlocked and we both climbed in. He took my hair dryer and plugged it into an AC adapter and handed it to me.

"You're kidding right?"

"I've got nothing else." I looked at the hair dryer, then at Ranger. He was, as usual, unreadable. I opened the mirror on the visor and did the best I could to dry my hair in such a cramped spot, only elbowing Ranger twice. I pulled hairspray out of my pocketbook and Ranger climbed out of the car. I somehow managed to tease my hair into something I thought could count as sexy, swiped enough make-up and mascara on my face stopping just short of slut then looked out at Ranger. He climbed back into the car and we took off.

"So, what's the plan?" Ranger cut me a look. I'd disrupted the zone.

"Laughlin will be at a strip club downtown at twelve-thirty."

"And I will be?"

"A waitress"

"What?! I can't be a waitress! Do I have to…you know…strip?" I felt, more than saw Ranger's lips twitch.

"You'll be the decoy. Play up to Laughlin and get him to follow you into one of the private rooms in back. I'll take it from there."

"Oh" The rest of the ride was in silence. We arrived at the club, parked, and I looked at the club. I took a deep breath and felt Ranger at my elbow steering me toward the building. It looked like a big box. There were no windows anywhere and a scrolling sign advertised drinks, girls, and more. I debated the more and then decided I didn't want to know what the more was. We entered the building through the back and a big black man that looked like Mr T on steroids and he and Ranger did a complicated hand shake thing that I couldn't begin to understand and we went inside.

"Got a uniform for ya in here darlin" Mr. T said, pointing into a small dressing room. I wasn't too sure about following him into the room, but Ranger gave an almost imperceptible nod of approval and so I followed him into the room, Ranger close on my heels. He gave me a very short, black miniskirt that I knew would just barely cover my ass and a tube top that would only cover my breasts. I stopped in my tracks, Ranger just barely stopping behind me, digging my heels into the floor.

"No, no way. I'm not putting that on!" I squeaked.

"Put it on." Ranger said.

"Uh uh. I have my limits. There was nothing in the agreement that I'd wear something that skimpy!"

"Seven thousand babe." I blew out a sigh. He knew he had me. I really needed the money.

"Fine, but if I get my ass pinched by a slobbering, drunk moron I'll kick him." Mr T. smiled.

"I like her." I glared at both men and they left, Mr. T giving a boisterous laugh as I shut the door on them. I picked up the uniform and shuddered. I then thought of the thirty-five thousand dollars sitting in my pocket and I wiggled out of my dress. I silently wondered why I'd had to put it on as I wiggled my way into the skirt and slipped the top on. I gnawed on my lower lip. Damn. I forgot to take my bra off and I really didn't want to.

I sighed and slipped the top off, removed my bra, and put the shirt back on. I opened the door and Ranger was standing there, his eyes dropped to my chest and he shoved me back into the room, closed the door and pulled me against him. When his lips touched mine my knees melted and I was left dangling in his arms, helpless. He pulled back and smiled.

"Nice." I gave his chest a shove and he released me, still smiling. I pulled the miniskirt lower self consciously and Mr. T stuck his head in the door.

"Ready darlin?" He asked.

"Yes." _No_. I'd never be ready to go and play slut to a rapist and murderer, especially not in this outfit. I followed Mr. T down a hallway, Ranger still close behind me and I tugged down on the miniskirt again before I felt Ranger's hands stop mine. His voice came in a whisper in my ear, his breath tickling the little hairs.

"Stop it or we won't make out catch tonight." I flushed and stopped adjusting my skirt. Ranger stayed in the hall as Mr. T led me through a curtain to the main room. There was a stage with three stripper poles along the back and one at the end of a short runway. There was a half nude female dancing on each pole and men were belly up to the stage trying to stuff money into the girls' g-strings.

Mr. T led me to the bar and introduced me to a blonde woman with large boobs barely contained in a bikini top, tiny waist and a perfect ass encased in a miniskirt shorter than mine. Since my miniskirt barely held everything in, I was sure hers wasn't leaving much to the imagination from the back.

"Hey sugar." She said, flashing me a smiled.

"Hi" I said, glancing around nervously.

"First time?" I nodded.

"This here is baby girl, she'll be showin you round. You can call me T." I mentally slapped my forehead. _Unh_. At least I wouldn't forget his name.

"So." I said. "What do I do?"

"You'll wait tables. Go around to all the tables refilling mugs and replacing beers. Remember to keep a running tally on each customer."

"Sure." I said. "No problem." I was pretty sure I was going to fail miserably at both of those but I was trying to sound positive. Maybe if I thought positive I'd actually be able to do this.

"Here's a tray." Baby girl handed me a round tray and placed a few mugs and bottles of beer each in the center. "Take this and start with table number five. Mr. Laughlin is sitting at that table, he's a high stakes customer. We like to keep him happy." I turned to look at the table in question and immediately spotted Laughlin. He was a short man, standing only five feet five inches tall. Even at that height, though, he had a formidable presence.

He was all lean, hard muscle and had a skull tattooed on his forehead. He was completely bald and had eyes that were too close together. I couldn't tell but I could have sworn they were glowing red. I ambled over, tray held aloft, and stopped short, reaching for an empty beer bottle. Laughlin reached a hand out and grabbed my wrist. My first instinct was to recoil but I managed to paste a smile on my face that I hoped was inviting and let him keep hold of my arm. I suspected I wouldn't have been able to get away from him anyway. His grip was of steel.

"You're new." Wow, king of the obvious.

"Yeah, it's my first day."

"Mmm girl, you lookin fine. I see why they hired you in." I swallowed the urge to vomit and smiled.

"Would you like another beer?"

"Actually I'm thirsty for something else." He stood and headed toward the curtained off hallway where Ranger was waiting, tugging me along behind him. I was very glad that Ranger was waiting because I didn't want to find out what Laughlin was thirsty for. Laughlin stepped through the curtain and he was on the floor unconscious before I passed through.

"Wow, usually something bad happens and we end up having to chase the perf. I'm really glad we didn't have to chase him because I'm wearing four inch heels and I have no bra on and I don't think this skirt would stay in place." Ranger responded by grabbing me by the back of the neck and pulling me in to kiss me.

There was a lot of tongue and I think I started to drool. Ranger pulled back, flipped out a phone and called Rangeman. He asked someone to come pick up Laughlin and he pulled me back to the dressing room. He shoved me inside, told me to change, and shut the door behind me.

I re-emerged five minutes later in the dress and we left, Mr. T waving at us at the door. We got back into Ranger's Porsche and drove back to my apartment in silence. Ranger was in the zone and I was contemplating the last hour. We pulled into the parking lot behind my apartment building and simultaneously climbed out. Ranger walked around to my side and leaned into me, his knee sliding between mine. I found it very difficult to breathe when Ranger did this and I felt panic start to rise in my chest.

The fact was, I wanted to drag Ranger up to my bedroom and demand he make love to me, but there was a small voice in the back of my head that always wondered, what about Joe? Ranger kissed me, pressing me back against the Porsche then he released me, walked me to my apartment, tucked me inside and he was gone. Damn him.


	3. Chapter 3

I planned to go to the office today and I was hoping some new skips came in because I really needed something to take my mind off the images of Joyce and Joe together that kept running through my head. Those were only interrupted by thoughts of my time spent with Ranger last night. I'd showered and dressed and swiped a bit of lash-lengthening mascara on before grabbing my pocketbook and heading to the office. The office was on Hamilton Avenue and ten minutes from my apartment building. I parked in front of the office and strode through the door.

Connie was just getting settled when I walked in. Connie was Vinnie's office manager. She handled all the paperwork and her desk was planted in front of Vinnie's office door, Vinnie's first line of defense against bookies, pimps, and anyone else that might try to get in. She kept a gun in her desk to help dissuade the more persistent ones. Connie was two inches shorter than me, two pounds heavier, two years older, and her hair was normally teased two inches higher than mine. Today my hair was pulled back into a ponytail because today I didn't give a crap what anyone thought I looked like. Okay, so I'd slapped mascara on my eyes so I wasn't a complete car crash.

I flopped onto the brown naughahyde couch by the window and leaned my head against the back. The door opened and Lula strode in carrying a box of donuts. Lula was the file clerk though she didn't really do much filing, mostly she tagged along with me when I went to capture skips and needed a hand. She was a full-figured black woman that had a wardrobe left over from her former profession as a ho. She was wearing a white sequined jacket that had faux fur at the collar over a bumblebee colored tank top. Her bottom half was somehow crammed into a size ten pair of poison-green spandex pants that looked as if they might burst at any moment.

"Hey girls" Lula called as she moved to Connie's desk and set the donuts down. I eyed the donuts. I really needed a donut, it was definitely a donut day.

"Looks like it's a doughnut day for Steph." Lula said to Connie

"It's a donut day I said." I heaved off the couch, went over to Connie's desk, and selected a donut.

"I know you and Morelli are off-again, again." Lula said. Both her and Connie eyed me, waiting for details. I just stayed quiet. News in the Burg travelled faster than the speed of light, maybe even faster.

"I don't want to talk about it." Connie and Lula glanced at each other.

"Any new skips in?" I asked Connie, changing the subject.

"Not today. It's been a slow week." I sighed and took my donut back to the couch and sat down to eat my donut. The office door opened and a woman dressed in designer jeans, top, had diamonds dangling from her ears and both wrists, walked in. She was wearing sunglasses and her blonde hair was piled high on her head. We all stared at her before Connie stood at her desk, mouth opened in an 'O'.

"You're Blossom!" Lula and I both looked at Connie. A bright smile appeared on the woman's face.

"That's right. I'm Barbara Blossom." She moved to Connie's desk and placed some papers in front of Connie. "I'm here to bond out my manager. Antonio Digiorno."

"Get out, like the pizza?" Lula asked.

"Yes, like the pizza." I could of sworn I saw Barbara roll her eyes.

"She gotta bond out the pizza man. Ain't that somethin" Lula said.

"He's not the pizza man, he's my manager."

"That ain't right. Name like that he should be makin' pizza." Lula said, hand on hip.

"Can we get on with this? I have somewhere to be." Connie made out the necessary paperwork and handed it back to Barbara while Lula and I looked on. I was thinking, diva bitch and Lula was eyeing the donut box. Barbara was standing between Lula and her donuts. When Connie finished and Barbara had left, we all went to the window and watched Barbara slip into a black stretch limo, the driver holding the door. The driver closed the door and trotted around to the driver's side, climbed into the driver's seat, and the limo left.

"Don't you realize who that was?" Connie nearly exploded. Lula and I both gave her blank stares. "You really don't know do you? That was Barbara Blossom. She's the best broadway singer ever."

"Broadway?" Lula asked. "Who watches Broadway?" Connie narrowed her eyes.

"Are you dissing Broadway?"

"Heck, Broadway is dissing Broadway." Lula responded. They both started arguing until Vinnie poked his head out of his office.

"What's going on out here? A person can't work with all this racket." He then retreated into his office, the door slamming, lock clicking in place. Probably a smart idea since both Connie and Lula had turned their heads toward Vinnie, anger seeping from every pore. I stood and headed toward the door.

"Call me if you get any skips in." I said quickly before pushing through the door and jumping in my car. I turned the key and nothing happened. I thunked my head on the steering wheel and tried the key again, this time it caught and the engine rolled over. I sat there for a minute, wondering what I should do. I had no skips, I had no money, and at the moment, I didn't even have a boyfriend. I was such a loser.

I headed back to my apartment. I had nothing else to do so I thought maybe I'd watch Ghostbusters. Ghostbusters was a movie you could always count on to cheer you up. I mean, there's a big monster made out of marshmallow that explodes at the end. How cool is that? I was half-way home when my phone rang. I looked down. It was Ranger.

"Yo" I said.

"I got a job if you need the money." How did he always know everything?

"I might, what's the job?"

"Same as always. Come to Rangeman" With that he disconnected.I bit my lip. Working at Rangeman was like playing with fire. In the past, working at Rangeman had involved me staying in Ranger's apartment while I was there and then moving back home with a lot of frustrations. I did need the money, though. The seven thousand from the capture last night would buy me a new car, but I still needed rent money. I drove to Rangeman and parked in the underground garage. I gave a finger wave to the security camera as I climbed onto the elevator, heading up to Ranger's office. He was at his desk going through a stack of papers when I knocked.

"Yo" I said.

"Sit." Ranger is a man of few words. Usually he expects his directions to be followed but then, he was Batman.

"So" He handed me some files, opened a drawer and handed me a check from last night's capture.

"Routine, check out those people, same cubical." With that he dismissed me. I sat dumbstruck. That was it? No flirting, he hadn't even looked up.

"Alright." I stood and walked to my cubical, brooding. Three hours later I was halfway through my searches when Ranger appeared.

"Find anything?"

"Just the usual. Most have minor charges on their record but one struck me as odd. He has five houses registered under three different names. I only found him because they came up under the same social security number. Ranger nodded, took the file and left. Another two hours went by and I was finished. I was just standing up to return them to Ranger when my phone rang, it was Connie.

"Hey" I said.

"She's missing." A lot of things went through my head at this. I figured she was talking about Lula though.

"Did you check her house? She could have gone shopping."

"I don't know where she lives, and it's in the paper." I stopped, now I was confused.

"Who's missing?" I finally asked.

"Barbara Blossom!" I did a mental head-slap. _Unh._

"Ok"

"That's not all, her manager, you know the one we bonded out? He's missing too." Normally I don't get involved in the lives of Vinnie's clients until after they become FTA. However, when we know one goes missing and is likely to miss a court date, I will take more of an interest and try to get them to court rather than the person go FTA. If Barbara and Antonio were missing and it was news worthy, odds were he'd end up FTA. I sighed and told Connie I'd be there. I hung up and went to Ranger's office.

"I'm needed at the office." I said as I handed him the files. "No one else in those stuck out to me."

"Thanks." He studied me for a few minutes then stood, walked over to me, and kissed me lightly on the lips. "I'll be in touch."

OOO

Forty minutes later I was back at the bonds office, I'd stopped at the bank to deposit the check from Ranger. Connie was pacing and waving her arms, looking very distraught. I'd never seen her like this. It was actually kind of scary. Lula was no where to be seen.

"Hey" I said. Connie stopped pacing and looked at me.

"What took you so long?"

"I stopped at the bank on the way here."

"You have to find her. Barbara. Antonio Digiorno is missing as well, and that means he'll probably miss his court date. You have to go find them."

"That's a police problem, not a Stephanie problem. Antonio will become a Stephanie problem when he goes FTA."

"Yeah, but if you find them before his court date, he won't be FTA."

"How does that benefit me? I'm out money if he doesn't go FTA." Ok, so I was playing devil's advocate, but I really didn't want to go on a wild goose chase. Besides, they lived in New York and I lived in Trenton. I didn't know my way around New York and probably the NYPD wouldn't appreciate a bounty hunter from New Jersey getting involved in one of their cases.

"Come on, Broadway as we know it will cease to exist if Barbara isn't found. She'll miss the grand opening of Two Men and a Henny Penny if she isn't found." I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. "Come on, this is serious!"

"Two Men and a Henny Penny? What kind of name is that?" Connie glared at me. "Fine! I'll look into it!" Connie smiled and gave me a folder marked Barbara on it.

"I went ahead and did some basic searches for you. You should find everything you need to get you started, if I was you, I'd try her apartment in New York first."

"No, I'm not going to New York!" Connie gave me a look, I blew out a sigh. I was going to New York.


	4. Chapter 4

(Same disclaimer, if you recognize it it's Janet Evanovich – also…I'm not great with ratings…if this should be M let me know and I'll change it :X)

I was packing my suitcase, clothes scattered all over, when my phone rang. I looked at the caller id. It was Lula.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Connie says you're going to New York." Her tone was accusatory.

"Yeah, wanna go?"

"You bet your sweet ass. I'm all packed and everything. See I was ready on account of I know you wouldn't go to New York without me." I smiled. I think I had Lula filed under entertainment in my budget.

"I want to leave tonight. I'll pick you up at six." We hung up and I dialed Ranger. I'd been dreading the call but Ranger would be expecting me at Rangeman in the morning.

"Yo" He said.

"Yo yourself." I didn't elaborate, I was stalling.

"What's up?"

"I won't be able to work at Rangeman." There was a couple beats of silence.

"And?"

"I'm going to New York."

"Why?"

"Barbara Blossom is missing."

"Not your problem Babe."

"Antonio Digiorno is missing too."

"Still not your problem." I gave a mental sigh.

"But if he isn't found before his court date, he'll be FTA." I was grasping at strings.

"That seems a little backward." I blew out a real sigh, he was right.

"I sort of promised Connie I'd go check into it." He was silent. "I shouldn't even be gone that long."

"Babe" and he disconnected. What the heck was that supposed to mean?

It was three and I still needed to finish packing, take a shower, load up the car, and be to Lula's by six. I looked at my suitcase; it had three things in it. I needed a new wardrobe. I hurried and threw some clothes into the suitcase and trudged to the bathroom. I stood under the shower for half an hour and then pulled the curtain back. Ranger was leaning against the door jamb. I screamed and pulled the curtain shut.

"Can't you ever knock?" I asked my heart beating fast, though whether it was from fright or standing naked in front of Ranger, I couldn't tell.

"I knocked, you didn't hear."

"So, you can't just barge in."

"I just did." I sighed.

"Can I at least get dressed?" Ranger walked over and yanked back the curtain. I squeaked and attempted to hide myself with my hands. It wasn't working very well. I could see his eyes darken and he lifted a hand and tugged a wet strange of hair.

"Don't go." He looked down and said. "Babe." My breath caught. Actually I think I stopped breathing altogether. Somehow I ended up against him, my fingers curling into his shirt, lips brushing his neck. His arms came around me and held me against him. Then I felt him grip my ass and I sucked in some air. Then he was kissing me, hell I was kissing him and I couldn't stop. He was all raw male and the shower gel still drove me mad.

One instant he had me against him, the next he'd lifted me and carried me to my bedroom. He tossed me on my bed and then let his gun belt drop to the floor. He was untying his boots when my phone rang. I reached to answer it and he grabbed it and threw it against the wall. It shattered into a million pieces and I squeaked again, grabbing my blankets and covering myself.

"Not this time babe, no distractions." Then he was naked and on me. He was hot, hard, and relentless and I didn't think I could have found the power to stop him if I'd wanted to. The problem was, I didn't want him to stop. There was a small voice inside that worried about Joe but I pushed it aside. Truth is, I really wanted this. Tension had been so high strung between Ranger and I that I just wanted it to stop. The problem was, I knew it would just make things worse.

Ranger was kissing me everywhere and my brain stopped working altogether. His fingers were magic as they danced across my skin, leaving trails of heat everywhere they touched. When we finally came together, it was magic. It felt like the fourth of July in the middle of August. It was so intense, I started hyperventilating. Ranger stopped and looked down at me.

"Babe?" I curled my fingers into his shoulders and shook my head.

"Breathe babe, relax."

"I….can't…with…you.." I gulped some air and he kissed me, it actually helped.

"Almost there babe." He whispered against my hairline. He moved and

everything went black.

OOO

Sometime later I woke up. Ranger had me gathered against him, cuddling. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand, five thirty. Damn.

"I gotta go." I said, stretching lazily beside Ranger.

"No."  
"Excuse me?" Ranger sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It was so uncharacteristic of him that it gave me pause.

"Digiorno isn't a nice guy, please stay?" I blinked, did Ranger just actually say please?

"I'm just running to New York, checking out a few things, then coming home. Besides, Lula's packed and ready to go. I can't disappoint her." Ranger just shook his head.

"Babe. Be careful." With that he gave me a deep kiss and left.

I climbed out of the bed and quick grabbed my suitcase and stopped in the bathroom to look at my hair. I almost screamed. It was standing on end. I quick brushed it, gathered it in a pony tail and flew out the door.

Twenty minutes later I was idling in front of Lula's and she was lugging her suitcases down the walk. I had bought a Nissan sentra at the dealer today, but still, I wasn't sure if there was enough room for all of Lula's things. She had seven suitcases and a garment bag, There was another bag on the porch that I thought looked like it had shoes in it, plus a cosmetics bag and toiletry bag. I tried not to let my mouth gape open but Lula gave me a look that said I was failing.

"Huh, I guess a girl gotta have all her things when she go to New York City." She said as she started putting all her things in the trunk. "What's this, you only got one skinny ass bag in here?"

"I travel light."

"Looks like you don't travel at all." I got out and helped Lula pack the rest of her things away and then we were on our way, it was almost seven.

"See we woulda been on our way if you'd been here on time." I tried to keep focused on my driving.

"Why you smiling like that? Looks like you got you some." Crap, was I smiling? I tried not to smile. "Yeah, looks like you got you some alright, you can't get that goofy grin off your face. I thought you and Morelli was off again." I kept silent and Lula's eyes almost bugged out of her head. "Don't tell me it was Ranger. Oooh I'm getting a hot flash, is it hot in here? I need some air." She was doing the one handed fan thing and trying to turn my air on.

"It wasn't Joe." Was all I was willing to say.

"Girl don't I know, don't Joe ever give you a smile like that." I didn't say anything because I knew it was true. "So, what's it like being with Ranger? Give me some details girl. I mean, I wouldn't hold out on you like that. I gotta get some good details here." I sighed, this was going to be a very long trip to New York.

OOO

It took us an hour and a half to reach the outskirts of the city due to traffic. I was hoping it wouldn't be so bad if we left after rush hour but, what can you expect from a city that never sleeps?

We pulled into traffic and I thought I was doing pretty good, I mean, I grew up driving in Trenton right? After an hour of sitting in traffic I was starting to panic. Ok, this was nowhere near like driving in Trenton. At least in Trenton, an hour in traffic meant I got somewhere. I'd been sitting in the same spot for the past hour and not moved anywhere.

"Uh oh." Lula said. "Looks like we gonna be stuck here. This traffic is crazy." I studied the traffic awhile and learned that it was indeed crazy. If I wanted to get anywhere, I was going to have to cut someone off and weave through the rest. I bit my lip, this was complicated.

"Soon as I can, I'm parking and we'll walk, or else we'll grab a cab. I'm not driving in this."

"Girl I hear you." I finally managed to weave through traffic, exchanging a few Italian hand signals and almost hitting a few people before I was able to find a lot to park in. Lula and I climbed out of the car and I breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"Ok, where too?" Lula asked, eyeing me.

"Um, according to these searches Connie gave me we need to find the Crown Plaza. It says Barbara rents out the penthouse on the top floor."

"Man, maybe I should be on Broadway. I want me a fine penthouse suite here in New York." I looked at Lula, she was wearing Leopard print spandex pants that were four sizes too small and a tan sequined long-sleeved shirt that barely contained the girls. I thought freak show would have been more appropriate but I didn't say anything. Truth is, Lula actually looked good in all her wacky clothes, in her own way.

"Well, maybe not Broadway, but I bet I could make some money here. I'm thinking of moving here, we should check out some apartments while we're here."  
"We have to get to Barbara's place first, I still don't know how I'm going to get in. I don't have Ranger's skills."

"Girl, don't nobody have Ranger's skills." I sighed because it was true and I knew first hand.

"Maybe we can convince someone to let us in?"

"I don't know, maybe." Lula didn't look too hopeful but I had nothing else to go on, so I was hoping it would work. I took out the folder Connie had given me and looked up the address of the hotel.

"It says here the hotel is in East Elmhurst. Where is East Elmhurst?"  
"Hell if I know. I only been to New York once before and it wasn't to no East Elmhurst." I looked at the paper again, then my car.

"I think maybe we should check into a hotel and move our stuff first." We had actually parked in a garage connected to a hotel. We went inside and looked at rates, I about died when I saw it but Lula and I forked over enough between the both of us for the night. We'd figure out any other nights later. We went back to my car with one of those trolleys for luggage and loaded all our stuff onto it.

We hauled everything into the hotel and into the elevator. There was a man dressed in a business suit, he was white and balding. He looked like a top executive of a company, he kept staring at Lula. I found this normal, everyone stared at Lula.

When we got to our room we took all our stuff inside and unpacked. I mentally groaned at the two doubles so close together. I really liked Lula, but her snoring could wake the dead. I sighed as I threw my pillows on one bed and Lula claimed the other, I couldn't afford the hotel by myself so I had to deal.

"Ok, so now what?" Lula asked. "We got ourselves all settled in, we gonna go find Barbara's place now?"

"Yeah, that was my plan."

"Sounds like a good plan to me." We trudged back down to the garage and I stopped, looking at the empty spot my car had been. My stomach turned over.

"Lula, isn't this where we parked?"

"Yep, looks like someone gone off and stole your car." She said. I stomped around a bit and swore up a storm.

"Dang girl, you better calm down or you'll give yourself a stroke. I had an uncle once that went on a tirade like that, he just up and fell over with stroke." I stopped swearing and took my pulse.

"Do I look alright? I don't look like I'm having a stroke do I?" I was afraid I was going to have a stroke, I was under a lot of stress.

"You look kinda pale, though, you always look pale so…" I sighed, maybe I should find some time to go tanning. I didn't want to look sickly pale. I had a few options, I could call the police and report my car, call Ranger, though he'd probably laugh or tell me I should have stayed home. I'd call Joe but we were fighting. I looked at Lula.

"Now what?"

"At least you didn't blow it up this time." If looks could kill Lula would be dead as a door mouse.

"That doesn't exactly help our situation."  
"Oh right. Well, suppose you gotta call the police and tell them though I'm gonna go sit in the room while you deal with the police since they give me the runs." I sighed and we trooped back into the hotel. I found a phone book and called the police.


	5. Chapter 5

(Same disclaimers – You know it it's Janet Evanovich)

I woke up to my phone buzzing in my ear. I'd turned the ringer off and fallen asleep with it next to my pillow. I hadn't been in much of a mood for anything after two hours spent with the cops filing the report on my car. I'd trudged back up to the hotel room, taken a shower, and crawled into bed. Lula had been nowhere to be seen. I'd stopped in the gift shop and bought some ear plugs because I knew how bad Lula snored so my night was blissfully silent. I looked at the clock on the night stand, six.

I groaned and hit ignore and went back to sleep. Five minutes later it was ringing again. I sighed and sat up. It was Ranger. I hit talk and put the phone to my ear, then realized I still had the ear plugs in. I took out an ear plug and tried again.

"Hello?" I croaked out.

"Your car says you're in Boston."

"I'm not in Boston." There was a beat of silence.

"Your car is stolen."

"Yes"

"I'll send a man." He disconnected and I rolled over and closed my eyes. I'd forgotten to call Ranger last night about my car. I'd been so exhausted and angry over my car, I'd forgotten that Ranger had it bugged and could probably find it.

Two hours later I was awake and dressed trying to get Lula out of bed. She was facing away from me, snoring so loud I could barely hear myself yelling at her to get up. Someone knocked at the door and I went to answer it.

"Yeah?" I yelled out then blushed. "Sorry, my roommate is snoring."

"We know, we got a call that there was really loud snoring in this room. Maybe your friend should see a doctor." I sighed and apologized. I closed the door and went and shook Lula.

"Lula! Wake up!" Lula rolled over and blinked up at me.

"Can't a woman get some shut eye around here?"

"You were snoring so loud the neighbors complained."

"Huh. Guess I can't help it if I got a snoring problem."

"They suggested you go see a doctor. You know, I saw a special on tv about snoring. They said you should get a sleep study done if you snore. Maybe you should go do one of them sleep studies."

"Huh." Was all Lula would say on the subject. She got dressed and we headed out of the hotel. I had an address and directions. The directions were to make sure we got to the right place but I didn't think I had anything to worry about because we were going to take a cab. We stepped to the curb and I raised my hand. A taxi pulled up and stopped in front of us. We climbed in. The driver looked like Osama Bin Laden. Lula and I froze, then we relaxed because we realized Bin Laden wouldn't be driving taxi in New York. We hoped.

"Where you want to go?" his accent was heavy and he was looking over the seat at us expectantly.

"Don't kill us." Lula said. I stared at her. "What? I couldn't help it, he looks just like him!" I rolled my eyes. I saw the driver license. Ahmed. I wasn't even going to attempt his last name. Ahmed sighed and hung his head.

"I get this all time. Everyone thinks I'm Osama Bin Laden. I promise, my family come from different country and we are all proud to be American now."

"Don't mind Lula." I said, "She has that disease, Turrets. She didn't mean it."

"I have a brother with that disease. Very sad. He cusses more than this one. Oh, he cuss very bad, we can't take him out in public very often."

"Wow that sucks." I said. I wasn't really sure what to say. I couldn't imagine having to stay home because I couldn't stop swearing in public.

"Damn" Was all Lula said. We were driving and it occurred to me that we hadn't told him where we were going.

"Um, we need to go to the Crown Plaza Hotel in East Elmhurst, New York."

"I know, I read it from the paper you are holding. Not much escapes Ahmed." I blinked and looked down. Sure enough, the paper with the address and directions was in plain view. I was actually really impressed.

"So, you know anything about Barbara Blossom's disappearance." I asked. No stone unturned I decided. Why not ask a cabbie, especially one that knew where you wanted to go before you told him.

"I've driven her before. It was before she got so famous. Not very nice that one. She didn't even leave a tip." He said this as he eyed us in the back seat. I thought he might dump us out in the middle of the street if we didn't offer to tip him.

"Oh, we always tip." I said hastily.

"Yeah" Lula said. "Steph here'll give you a twenty if you get us there pronto." I gave her a _are you shitting me?_ look, but she ignored me.

"I can get you there very fast. I'm good taxi driver." He whipped into the next lane over sending Lula and I flying across the back seat. The car behind us honked, it was a close call, we were inches from his bumper. I was dumbstruck as I watched Ahmed weave expertly through the traffic always coming inches within a car behind or in front but never so much as grazing another car.

"Barbara Blossom has, as you say, shady business partner? That pizza man everyone calls him. He is a bad man. He was Barbara's pimp." That gave me a moment's pause.

"He was a pimp?" It was hard to believe a man with the name of Digiorno had been a pimp. Maybe he still was and was putting pressure on Blossom.

"Yes, but Barbara wanted to be a star, he saw potential so he went with her. Also did not help that all his whores were arrested." I couldn't believe this cabbie knew all this information. "You doubt Ahmed?" I shook my head. "We taxi drivers learn much over the years. As I said, I drove Barbara before she was famous."

It hit me then. He drove her when she was a ho. Whether or not he had used her services was another matter. I really didn't want to know. Now I understood when Ranger had said Digiorno wasn't a nice man.

Ahmed pulled into the hotel and Lula and I scrambled out. I paid the fare and gave Ahmed the promised twenty. I couldn't believe how fast we'd gotten to the hotel. I couldn't believe we'd made it to the hotel in one piece. I decided that if I ever came to New York again, it was going to be by bus or plane. I would never drive here again.

Lula and I stood outside the hotel after Ahmed drove off, hands on hips.

"Now what?" Lula asked. Truth is, I wasn't sure what. I could do the bounty hunter thing and say I was after Digiorno, but I wasn't guaranteed to get into the room and I didn't have the paperwork because Digiorno wasn't exactly FTA yet. I shrugged. What the heck, it works in Trenton, why not New York?

"Ok, we're going to pretend that Digiorno is FTA. I'll go in and flash my badge and say we have to search the apartment and maybe we can get someone at the front desk to let us in."

"Ok, sounds like a plan." We pushed through the lobby doors and stopped at the front desk. A young man, probably eighteen or so was working the front counter. I thought perhaps we were in luck because he didn't look very bright. We got up closer and I could see he was reading some type of muscleman magazine. He looked up and blushed, hastily shoving the magazine under the counter.

"Can I help you?" He asked. His tone and manner reflected gay.

"Hi, my name is Stephanie Plum and I'm a bond enforcement officer. I hear a skip named Antonio Digiorno is seen at Barbara Blossom's place. I have authorization to capture and detain Mr. Digiorno. I need to be let into Miss Blossom's place and look around."

The kid behind the desk, his name tag read Michael, started to look nervous. He adjusted his tie and I could see him take a few gulps, his adams apple working up and down. He then looked around, probably trying to figure out what he should do.

"Look, I won't be long, you can even come with us if you like."

"I can't leave the front desk." He was still looking unsure.

"Come on, I showed you my badge, I'm not here to steal, if I was trying to steal, I wouldn't have made myself visible, and therefore recognizable to you." He seemed to consider this.

"Ok, but you have to hurry, I could lose my job over this." He did some things on his computer, swiped a roomkey and gave it to me.

"Thanks Michael." Lula and I walked casually to the elevators but when we got on, we were both egging the elevator to hurry. I couldn't believe we'd gotten the key. I did the impatient dance, bouncing on my toes while Lula settled for shaking her hands, not being able to bounce very well in her via spigas.

When the elevator opened to Barbara's floor, we both got out, searching the hallway for anyone coming or going. There were security cameras, so we both had hats on hoping we couldn't be recognized on them. We walked casually over to Barbara's door and walked in, acting like we were supposed to be there. We went inside and closed the door behind us. This was it, it was now or never. If we didn't find whatever we were looking for right now, we wouldn't find it. The problem was, I didn't know what we were looking for and I didn't want to spend a lot of time looking for it.

I looked around. The place was impeccably kept, which would make sense since the hotel maids probably cleaned it daily. The entryway seemed like a trophy room of sorts. There were pictures of all her productions that she'd been in plus numerous awards and other memorabilia. Beyond that was a vast living room with a large screen television and three couches and a chair. A few end tables sat beside the chair and couches and a coffee table sat in the center.

There were some book shelves and along with a stereo system to die for. I slipped on a pair of gloves and did a quick search through everything. I didn't find much. No tickets to a foreign country, no threatening notes, no suicide notes. I moved on to some of the other rooms, there were two bedrooms and two bathrooms plus a master suite with it's own separate bath. None of those turned up anything either. I moved to the kitchen and dining area.

I found something I thought could be interesting but I wasn't sure. It was a matchbook from a bar on Point Pleasant. I tucked it into my pocket and searched some more. I found her answering machine and listened to the messages. Only one gave me pause. It was a woman and she sounded really frightened. I copied down the message on a piece of paper and did a final search. When I was done, Lula and I tried to make everything appear as though no one had been in.

We then left and headed toward the elevator. A man in a security uniform stepped off and Lula and I turned and ducked into an alcove. We could be seen by a security camera, so we tried to act natural, digging through purses like we couldn't find our keys. The security guy went to Barbara's apartment and opened it and went inside. I figured it wouldn't be long before he was phoned and told we'd left the room.

Lula and I hi-tailed it out of there. We turned in the opposite direction of the elevators and took the stairs. I ran down the stairs and Lula wasn't far behind. She was clopping like a horse in her via spigas and I was holding the railing hoping that my downward fleeing wouldn't turn into downward tumbling. We went down about five stories before we both were dragging our feet, breathing heavily.

"It ain't that I'm out of shape." Lula gasped. "It's just that these shoes weren't made for runnin down stairs in. It takes more out of you." I nodded in agreement; I was beyond the ability to speak.

"I say we slip onto the next floor and take the elevator to the second floor and find a back entrance. I left the key on the counter after wiping it clean. They'll probably change the locks anyway." I said when I could find my voice. I was gasping between every few words.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Lula agreed. We opened the door to the next floor and peeked into the hall. We were on the forty-seventh floor. We hurried to the elevator, both crossing our fingers that we wouldn't run into anymore security guards and pushed the call button. The elevator arrived surprisingly fast and it was empty. We both gave a sigh of relief and stepped in. I hit the two button and we rode the elevator down only having a few stops in between to pick up passengers. We got off at two and found a stairwell. We ran down another flight of steps and came out of a door that was right next to a side door. We quick slipped out and ran down an alley heading up around some buildings and coming out to the main road before we stopped to catch our breaths.

"I don't know how, but you always get lucky." Lula said to me.

"Yeah, uncanny."

We hailed a cab and headed back to the hotel. I was too tired to do anything else but take a nap. Running down six flights of stairs was more exercise than I cared for.


	6. Chapter 6

(Same disclaimers – you know it, it's Janet Evanovich and sorry it took so long to write this next part)

Back at the hotel room, Lula and I lay sprawled on our respective beds. We were still breathing hard, taking everything in. I was on my back, arms and legs spread, my thinking pose. Lula was face down, I'd glanced over and was afraid she was suffocating with her face buried in a pillow, but I could see her breathing so I figured she was ok.

"I can't believe we just did that." I said.

"Me neither. I sure is glad we didn't get caught by that guard. Police give me the runs."

"He wasn't a policeman."

"Yeah well, he was in uniform, and he had a gun. Close enough for me. I think I might be sick anyway. I think I'm sweating. Do I look like I'm sweating?" Lula picked her head up. Her face looked flushed, and sweat was pouring down the sides.

"You just had your face mashed in your pillow, you're probably just hot. Maybe you should turn over."

"Yeah, I didn't think of that." Lula turned over and assumed a position a lot like mine. "I sure hope that guy didn't get fired." I hoped not either. "So what did we learn?" I had to think about it for awhile.

"Well, we know that whoever cleans Barbara's apartment does a thorough job. Not so much as a candy wrapper in any of the trash bins. The only things I found were the matchbook from Point Pleasant and the voicemail from the frightened woman."

"She sounded like a ho." I looked at Lula. "Well, see, only women I ever knowed to sound like her was hos. Hos always afraid their pimps gonna catch em givin it free or stealing drugs or money. Then there's pimps that'll just bust em if they feel like it." I grimaced. I had a momentary vision of Lula chained to the fire escape outside my bedroom window, naked and bloody. I shivered.

I'd first met Lula when I'd first become a bounty hunter. She'd been a ho and I'd leaked information from her on a skip. The skip had happened to be Joe Morelli, but that's another story. There'd been a boxer named Bonito Ramirez that had been after me and he'd ended up leaving Lula on my fire escape.

"I suppose we should go over the message on the answering machine, try to get more insight of what's going on." I said, staring up at the ceiling.

"I think we should get something to eat. I'm hungry. All that running worked me up an appetite something fierce. How about we find a McDonald's and get us some burgers, fries, and milkshakes?" I sighed. I was hungry too.

OOO

Half an hour later we were back in the hotel room with bags of food and milk shakes. There hadn't been any McDonald's within walking distance but we'd found a small burger joint just a block from the hotel. We had ordered monster burgers, monster fries, and monster chocolate milkshakes. I was happily sipping on my milkshake while Lula was working on her fries. I had the phone in my lap and the number for Barbara's answering machine on the table in front of me.

I was at a dilemma. I knew I should listen to the message, but I kept having images of Lula on my fire escape. The woman had sounded much panicked. She sounded like she was in a lot of trouble. I sucked some more on my milkshake then started on my fries. Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to eat a bit of food first. Just then, my cell phone rang. I looked at it. It was my mother.

"Hello?"

"Stephanie, this is your mother. We're having pot roast tonight, pineapple upside down cake for desert." My heart stopped.

"I..um…can't come." There was a pause. I figured my mother had a heart attack because I was refusing pineapple upside down cake.

"Why not?"

"I'm out of town."

"Where are you?"

"New York." I waited. She was silent. "Mom?"

"What are you doing in New York?"

"I'm looking for a skip." I was going straight to hell. I'd lied to my mother.

"In New York?" I could hear the skepticism in her voice.

"I've chased one to Las Vegas before, remember?"

"Oh well, be careful."

"I will mom." We hung up and I blew out a sigh. "I'm going to hell, I lied to my mother.

"Oh you know the big man upstairs will get you for that." Lula said around a mouthful of French fries.

"I had to lie. I don't want anyone knowing I'm searching for Barbara."

"Connie knows." I blew out a sigh. It was amazing my mother hadn't known before calling me that I was in New York. Maybe Connie wasn't talking for once.

"My mother didn't know I was here, so Connie must not have said anything." I picked up the phone and dialed the number to Barbara's voicemail and listened to the message. It was brief but the voice sent the images of Lula through my head again.

"Barbara? Barbara help me. Please Barbara, he's going to kill me. Please…you have to get me out of here!" That was the whole message.

"This woman is in trouble. Maybe we should track down that cab driver and ask if he ever drove anyone around with Barbara."

"Seems like a plan to me. I like that cabbie. He knows his shit."

"Yeah." We finished our burgers, fries, and milkshakes and headed back out of the hotel. We were standing on the side of the street when a sleek black Porsche 911 Turbo pulled up. The passenger window slid down and I leaned down and smiled at Ranger.

"So you found me." I saw his lips twitch.

"Babe."

"You find my car?" I was sort of hoping he hadn't.

"Yeah, Tank's on his way." I saw Lula fidgeting beside me at the mention of Tank's name. "We found your car in Kennebunkport, Maine."

"Maine?" I was halfway impressed that my car could make it that far.

"Yeah, it was parked at a McDonald's and we took it and left."

"Why would someone steal my car? I mean, it's old, rusty, and small. It's not a great car."

"Did you lock it?"

"Well, no, but" he cut me off

"Many thieves will choose an easy steal over a luxury steal."

"Oh" Tank pulled up and got out of my car. I couldn't figure out how he'd managed to get in my car in the first place. I almost burst out laughing because it reminded me of those little cars the clowns drive at the circus. He walked over and dropped my keys in my hand then climbed in beside Ranger. He and Lula didn't say a word to each other and Lula looked suddenly interested in a newspaper stand nearby. Ranger and Tank left and I walked over to Lula.

"Look at this headline." She said when I got to her. "Blossom Missing; Digirono Questioned" I blinked and looked at the paper.

"Questioned? That means he's not missing anymore."

"Yeah, but he could be. They let him go."

"They probably didn't have enough evidence to hold him." I stepped to the curb and hailed a taxi. To my surprise it was Ahmed again.

"I don't know how you do it." Lula said. "You're just damn lucky." We climbed in and told Ahmed to take us back to Barbara's hotel.

"We were wondering if you could give us some more information on Barbara." I asked Ahmed, trying to sound casual. Ahmed looked at me in his mirror, our eyes met.

"Why you want to know so much about Barbara Blossom." He asked.

"We're big bag bounty hunters and we're gonna bust her pimp." I looked at Lula. "Sorry it sort of slipped out."

"Bounty Hunters? Like on the television?" Ahmed looked excited. I inwardly groaned but pasted a smile on my face.

"Yeah, bounty hunters. We're trying to find Barbara because her manager Digiorno has a court date coming up and we don't want him to skip."

"Don't you usually hunt bad guys after they miss their court date?" Damn. He must really like those bounty hunter shows.

"Yes, but sometimes I like to help the ones that I know will skip." He seemed to accept this answer.

"What would you like to know?"

"First, did Barbara ever travel with anyone? Perhaps another hooker? Someone that might seem like a close friend?" Ahmed thought for a minute before answering.

'There was one girl she ride with many times. Short blonde girl, she called her Ruth. They were very close."

"What can you tell us about Ruth?"

"Very quiet. She never spoke much when she was in the car. Only when she was drunk or high. Not a very happy young lady. Though, that sort of profession I expect her not to be."

"Do you know where she is?"

"I haven't seen her in a few years. Could be she stopped riding around when Barbara quit or maybe she found a new profession." I had a sudden inspiration.

"Ahmed. Could you take us to where Barbara and Ruth used to live? Did they live together?"

"They always had me take them to the same place. I don't think you should go there. It's not safe for two women."

"Hunh." Lula said. "I guess we can take care of ourselves on account of we're bounty hunters." Ahmed looked skeptical. I couldn't blame him. It was obvious I wasn't packing and Lula was in four inch heels and spandex.

"I don't think this is a good idea." He said.

"We really need to see where they used to live." Ahmed sighed and shrugged.

"I will show you, but I must warn you. It is not a very good place."

"Ok, is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Not about Ruth. Not much to say. Digiorno seemed to really like her though. I don't think she liked him, but she never had a choice." We rode in silence the rest of the way to their house. We drove through the hubbub of downtown past high rises and office buildings heading east. I started feeling uneasy as the roads got narrower and the buildings got shabbier.

Ahmed came to a stop before a building that looked run down. It had boarded up windows and the front door had boards in place of windows. Lula and I got out, to the displeasure of Ahmed, and walked over to the building.

We stood in front of the building and looked up, heads craning, both unsure we wanted to be here when we heard a shout.

"What the fuck you doing here?" Our heads swiveled in the direction of the voice and a tank clone was walking toward us. He had a gun out, waving it in our direction as he swaggered over. Lula and I scrambled back to the cab and dove in.

We heard a gunshot and a bullet hit metal as Ahmed squealed off. Lula and I peeked out the back window but we saw the guy aim and we ducked back down.

"I told you, not a good place for women."


	7. Chapter 7

(Disclaimer: If you know it it's Janet Evanovich. Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter but I thought it was a good break point for a chapter! :X)

Lula and I were back at the hotel regrouping. We were in the restaurant grabbing a bite to eat. We could only afford to stay one more night in New York before having to head back home.

If we couldn't turn up anything on Barbara or figure who Ruth is, we'd have to go home and tell Connie we tried and leave it at that. The problem was, I was now involved and I had an unsolved mystery before me.

I had a hard time walking away from unsolved mysteries. I wanted to see this through.

"It's not like I was scared or anything." Lula was saying. "Sure he was big, but I know you don't like guns so I wanted to get you out of there." I cut my eyes over to Lula. She was eating a large portion of chili fries and had a big glass of wine in front of her.

"You were in the car before I was." I said.

"Well, you just slow is all." I rolled my eyes but I wasn't in the mood to argue.

"I want to go back."

"Yeah, this time we'll go prepared. We'll show that motherfucker what's what."

"No, no shooting! I just want to sneak in and look around."

"I don't know. Might have to do some shooting to get around him. He didn't look happy." I nodded my head. He was going to be a problem.

"Any ideas how we can get in? I mean, you used to work in an area like that."

"Hunh." Lula said. "Guess I know a few things. We could pick up a girl, have her take us to her room." I slid her a bewildered look.

"First of all, I don't want to step near any occupied rooms, secondly, I don't have money to pay for a hooker."

"Well, what do you suggest we do Miss know-it-all?" I rolled my eyes.

"I say we wait for it to be more crowded and try to blend in."

"Hunh." Lula said again. "I guess I could of thought of that."

We finished our food, paid, and left. Ahmed was waiting for us outside when we came out of the building. We climbed into his cab and told him to take us to a mall.

"Do you just wait around all day for us?" Lula asked.

"No, I stop by after each run. Now I feel responsible for you. I want to see you safe."

"I guess we're big girls and can take care of ourselves." Lula said.

"Thanks." I said at the same time.

"Ahmed is not stupid. I think you will try to go back to that building. I think you should stay away."

"We just want to check it out, then we'll stay away." Ahmed clicked his tongue and drove us to the mall. Lula and I paid Ahmed and scrambled out, pushing through the doors of the mall.

We went from store to store trying on different things until we both found outfits we thought would suffice. My first thought was that Lula didn't need a change of clothes, but I wasn't about to tell her that.

I'd found a short black miniskirt that barely covered my ass and a pair of four inch heeled fuck-me pumps with a shirt that was made of sheer green material that didn't cover much up. It had a scrap of material over my breasts that was held together in back by a thin string.

Lula was wearing white spandex pants that were four sizes too small. A pair of white via spigas and a leopard print top, also four sizes to small and accentuated her breasts. Not that Lula's breasts needed accentuating; you'd have to be blind not to see them.

Ahmed stared open mouthed at us as we slid back into the cab. I could see sweat on his brow as he kept giving surreptitious glances at my crotch. I closed my knees, hoping that any view beneath the skirt was blocked.

"You said you were bounty hunters." He eyed us suspiciously.

"We're going under cover." I said. "We thought it would be easier to get a look around if we blended." Ahmed shook his head.

"I do not like it." I rolled my eyes. Great, another man in my life telling me what to do. I grit my teeth before responding.

"We're paying you to drive, not be our bodyguard." Ahmed frowned and pursed his lips.

"Alright, but don't say I never warned you." He drove us, in silence, to the Barbara's old place. He parked down the street and around the corner. Lula and I sat in the back seat, both waiting for the other to get out first.

Truth was, I was scared out of my mind and I didn't want to go into what I suspected was a whorehouse, especially when I was dressed as a whore.

"Well" I said, blowing out a sigh. "Let's go." My cell phone rang just then. I looked at the read out and blew out another sigh. It was Joe.

"Hello?" I said.

"Stephanie, we need to talk."

"We can't talk right now. I'm in New York." There was a beat of silence.

"Why are you in New York."

"I'm looking for Barbara Blossom."

"Is she FTA?"

"No."

"Then you don't need to be looking for her." I gritted my teeth then pulled a wrapper from my purse and crinkled it into the phone.

"What? Joe? I can't hear you. You're breaking up….Joe?"I disconnected. I'm a very mature person.

"Who was that?" Lula asked.

"Joe"

"You two fighting again?" She looked at me skeptically.

"Yeah."

"Hunh, seems you two is always fightin." We got out of the car and strutted our stuff around the corner to the building. We pushed through the doors like we owned the place and went upstairs.

According to Ahmed, Barbara had once said she lived on the second floor in room 2B. We went to room 2B and knocked.

The door opened and a wispy woman with pitch black, ratty hair and vacant eyes opened the door. She looked us up and down and stiffened.

"What you want?"

"Are you Ruth?" I asked. She nodded then looked quickly back into the room, before slipping into the hallway and shutting the door behind her.

"Look, I can't have visitors, y'all gotta go." I could see fear, stark and plain in her eyes. I wanted to help her. I got images of Lula on my fire escape again and my heart constricted. I had to help her. I lowered my voice so it was barely a whisper when I spoke.

"We heard the voicemail." I waited for a reaction. She didn't disappoint me.

"Y'all need to just forget about it!" She turned, opened the door and it slammed shut. Lula and I were staring at each other, debating on whether we should knock again when the door opened. The Tank clone stood staring at us. I felt my mouth go dry and my knees go weak.

"You!" He reached out and grabbed me around the throat. I let out a squeak and he hauled me inside. He also reached for Lula but she'd swung her purse and it had knocked him upside the head. She'd lurched off down the stairs and I was hauled into the apartment, the door slamming behind me.

OOO

"Why are you here bitch." He asked. He only looked like Tank in appearance. He was mean and vicious, evil reeking from him where Tank was like a solid wall of protection. I felt safe with Tank. This man was made from the same stuff as nightmares.

"I needed a job." I'd said the first thing that had popped into my head and I hoped he didn't notice the panic that I was feeling. My heart was slamming against my ribs and I thought I was going to hyperventilate.

He hauled me off my toes by my throat. My legs kicked out as I grasped his hands, choking. Somehow my foot connected with his gonads and he dropped me, cursing. Then he kicked me in the stomach and I threw leaned down and grabbed my hair wrenching my head back to look at him.

"You're lucky you're alive bitch. Don't ever kick me again." He let me go, thrusting me down to the floor. I laid curled in a ball, trying not to whimper. "You want a job." He looked me up and down. "Dressed like that there's only one thing I can think of you want."

"You got a job for me?" I managed to croak out.

"Why'd you run last night?"

"You were scary." He laughed an evil, maniacal laugh that made me shiver. I thought perhaps I was way in over my head. I had to get out now.

"I don't think you need a job baby girl. I think you was snoopin." My breath caught. He was evil, mean, and smart. Not a good combination and it didn't bode well for me.

He grabbed my hair, pulled my head back so I was forced to look at him. He then punched me, his knuckles connecting with my jaw. Pain wracked through my skull. I had a scream on my lips but I don't know if I released it as darkness settled over me. My last concious thought was that I was in trouble and Ranger and Joe were over an hour away.


	8. Chapter 8

(Same disclaimer: You know it, it's Janet Evanovich)

I woke up with a splitting headache. I rolled over and looked at my where my clock should be and blinked in surprise.

Instead of a clock there was a metal file cabinet by my face. I blinked trying to remember when I'd gotten a metal file cabinet when I remembered.

I'd been knocked out by Tank's evil twin. A shiver ran down my spine and I sat up. The room wasn't very large; it seemed to be an office of sorts.

There was a desk that was cleared, a leather chair that was patched with duct tape in many places, the file cabinet and an old heater, one of those oil radiator heaters.

I was connected to the heater by a heavy length of chain that was locked around my ankle. I wouldn't be able to move far, but I suspected I could make it around the room at the least.

I listened carefully and heard nothing. I wasn't sure if anyone else was in the apartment, at least I assumed I was still in the apartment.

I stood and moved about the room, checking over the desk, going through all the drawers. I found nothing of interest in the desk so I moved to the cabinet.

The top drawers held nothing of interest, just some pens, paperclips, newspaper articles, various other things I didn't want to look at.

In the bottom drawer, I found what I was looking for. There was some documents, as well as photos of Barbara.

I read over one paper and it proclaimed a man named Jarvis Jander as Barbara's owner. I found this interesting. He must have been her pimp.

I heard muffled footsteps coming down the hall and I quick tucked the papers back and shut the door, scooting as far away from the cabinet as I could.

I waited and nothing happened. No one opened the door, no one called to me. I was left in solitude, locked in this room.

An hour ticked by and I was getting antsy. There was nothing to do and no one had come to check on me.

After another hour ticked by, I was bored almost to tears. I started thinking about things. I started thinking about Morelli.

Morelli loved me. I knew that, I loved him too, but I wasn't sure where that was going to lead us. I was getting tired of our on-again, off-again relationship. I was feeling like a yo-yo.

The problem was, Joe didn't like my job and I didn't think we could be together as long as I kept this job. I wasn't sure if he wanted me to have any job for that matter.

I know I couldn't stay home all day. I want to get out, work, do things, be successful.

Then there was Ranger. I had feelings for Ranger, and they were feelings I should only have for Morelli, but there they were.

I was starting to feel guilty about Ranger's goodbye before I'd left for New York. My only consolation was that Joe and I were off-again.

I looked at my watch and sighed. Another hour had ticked by as I'd thought of Morelli and Ranger. Still no one had checked on me, and I hadn't made much progress with my thoughts.

I decided to try and rest. I didn't have anything else to do and my head was still hurting from the earlier blow. I decided to sit in the chair and lay my head on the desk. Five minutes and I was out.

OOO

I woke with a start. It was pitch black all around and I couldn't hardly see my hand in front of my face. My eyes started to focus and I realized that it was night and the only light I had was coming from outside the window.

I stared at the window. I hadn't even paid attention to the window when I'd looked around earlier.

I moved to the window and peeked out. It opened to an alley and I could see I was on the second floor. I sighed. I wouldn't find help there.

The door to the room suddenly opened and evil Tank walked in. All the air in my lungs deflated and I felt very afraid. I was sure he was Jarvis Jander.

This man radiated evil and made me wish I'd never become a bounty hunter. He'd hit me once and even though it had knocked me out, I suspected it hadn't been his hardest punch.

He moved to stand in front of the desk, his steely gaze on mine, drawing on my fear. I was sure he could hear my heart hammering in my chest.

I sat back in the chair and folded my hands in my lap, trying to still the tremors in them. I waited, he said nothing, just stared. I think I started to sweat.

"Bounty hunter." He said it not as a question, but as a statement. I could hear the distaste in his voice, the venom in the word. I cringed involuntarily.

"I'm not…' He cut me off with a slap across the face. It wasn't enough to knock me out but it sent pain through my already throbbing head.

"I know who you are Stephanie Plum." He must have seen the shock on my face because he continued. "I have connections in Trenton. I've heard all about you."

I finally found my voice. "Connections?" I fairly squeaked.

"Yeah, I have a cousin you put in the slammer." I felt the blood drain from my face. I hadn't expected to run into anyone that would recognize me in New York.

"Oh yeah? Who?" I was speaking braver than I felt but I was sure my voice was trembling. I didn't think it would matter, I think he could smell fear.

"Eddie Jander. He was in the Comstock Street Slayers, he was busted the night you killed Junkman."

"I didn't kill Junkman." I'd answered automatically. Jarvis' eyes narrowed and I clamped my mouth shut, shrinking back against the chair. I closed my eyes willing Ranger or Joe to burst into the room.

My wait was in vain. I opened my eyes again and Jarvis was leaning across the desk, anger and pure hatred in his eyes.

"You caused his death, so the way I see it, you killed him. Eddie Jander was among the others captured when the cops showed up. I'm gonna enjoy showing you pain before I let you die a slow painful death." Little black dots danced behind my eyes and I leaned forward and threw up on the floor. When I looked up, Jarvis was gone. I wiped my mouth and laid my head on the desk and cried.

OOO

I jerked awake, unaware I'd fallen asleep. It was still dark out and I was still alone. I looked at my watch, pressing the button for the light. It was 3am. I'd been held hostage for twelve hours.

Lula and possible Ahmed were the only people that knew I was abducted. I was hoping Lula was getting in touch with Ranger and Joe and sending help.

I was both angry and relieved that she hadn't been captured as well. That gave me hope that she could get me out of this mess.

My thoughts were still on Lula when the door opened and Jarvis walked in. I gave an involuntary shudder and waited quietly, arms around my middle, hugging myself.

"We're going to play a little game." Jarvis said. I held my breath. I wasn't into playing games with pissed off maniacs.

"You're going to tell me everything I want to know and when you do, I'll let you be for awhile longer. I think you're lying or holding back, the pain begins." I gulped. I hated these kinds of games. I always lost.

"Why are you here?" I'd been dreading this question. I knew it was inevitable but I was hoping that by some miracle I'd have been rescued and been spared this.

"I'm looking for Barbara Blossom." He smiled. He crossed his arms and sat on the edge of the desk looking down at me. If he wasn't so scary, I would have thought he was trying to be friendly.

"Why?"

"A friend asked me to look for her because she's a huge fan." His eyes hardened.

"You'd have been better to stay in Trenton."

"Well, ok, then I'll go back to Trenton and we can pretend I never came here." I made to stand. His hand whipped out and slapped across my face so fast and hard I flew back into the chair. My head throbbed and I could swear I was seeing stars.

"We're not through." I nodded mutely, tears slipping down my cheeks. Just then I heard a click. It sounded almost like a gun being cocked. Jarvis must have heard it too because he spun to look at the door and I dove under the desk.

I heard gunfire but didn't dare look up as I huddled under the desk, trembling and crying. After a few minutes I felt arms come around me and I kicked and screamed.

"Babe" Relief flooded through me and I turned and launched myself into the familiar arms of Ranger. I buried my face in his shoulder, inhaling his scent.

He stroked my hair and held me close. I felt hands on my ankle and the chain was removed then Ranger lifted me into his arms and carried me from the building.


	9. Chapter 9

We were back at the hotel room and I was curled up on my bed. My face was swollen and bruised where I'd been hit but I was otherwise unharmed.

I hadn't talked much to Ranger on the way to the hotel, he'd just held me while Tank had driven. I'd barely let go of Ranger while we were in the car.

Now I wanted to talk. I wanted to know how Ranger had found us. I hadn't been too aware of much but I was sure I'd been brought out of a building that wasn't the same one I'd entered when looking for Ruth.

"How did you find me?" Ranger's eyes were hard. I could tell that he was just barely calm beneath the surface.

"It took some digging around but Jander has multiple addresses."

"I was starting to think you wouldn't find me."

"Lula told us where you were captured. We found the apartment empty. It took some time to locate where he had you."

"I think he has Barbara." Ranger lifted an eyebrow.

"I think it's time for you to stop worrying. You're going home."

Here's the thing. Deep down I wanted to listen to Ranger and I wanted to go home. For some reason though, whenever anyone tells me what to do, there's this ugly green monster that comes out of me and I defy all logic and reason.

"No I'm not." Ranger wasn't happy, but I wasn't backing down.

"Yes you are."

"I want to find Barbara, besides. Ruth is probably going to be in a lot of trouble. I'm involved now. I want to find Ruth too." Ranger sighed. That was big, reactions from Ranger were few and far between, unless they were of a sexual nature. Those reactions happened quite frequently.

"Babe" I stared him down. "Fine. You stick with me."

"Fine" I knew it was a childish reaction but I was cranky. I'd been stuck in a room by myself for twelve hours and I hadn't been given any food. I was starving. "I'm hungy."

Ranger picked up the phone and ordered room service and hung up.

"Hey! I'm paying for this room. I can't afford room service!"  
"Rangeman is now covering all expenses." I wanted to argue but I really didn't have the money to continue the search so I kept my mouth shut.

"Now what."

"Now we wait for Tank to get back with the information I asked him to gather."

"Oh." I then realized I hadn't learned what had happened to Jarvis.

"What happened to Jarvis?"

"He got away."

"What? How?"

"Not sure. There was a guy at the door and when we tried to take him out the door got shot to pieces. We got into the room you were in and he was nowhere to be seen. The window was broken and I saw blood on it but he was gone."

"He jumped through the window? We were on the second floor!"

"I know babe but that's what it looks like. We've been trying to track him. So far nothing has turned up."

"So, he's probably injured. You couldn't find him?" I was incredulous. He'd jumped out a two story window, we knew he was bleeding, yet he'd been able to get away. "Maybe there was a getaway car."

"Someone helped him. I had guys all over, there's no way he should have gotten away." I could tell this really bothered Ranger. Not that he was showing any sign of emotion but, if you really know Ranger, there are ways to tell.

I heard the door unlock and the door open. Even without turning around I could tell who it was. My nipples had grown hard. Damn. I was supposed to be angry with him.

"Joe?" I said as I turned to look at him. His mouth was in a grim line, he had on his cop face.

"Stephanie." He looked like hell. I felt my heart turn over. I was still angry about our fight and finding Joyce at his heart, but I knew he loved me and had probably worried about me when he'd found out I was missing.

"I didn't know you were here." He and Ranger exchanged nods. Not friendly yet not hostile. They got along when it came to my safety. They both loved me.

"He insisted on coming." Ranger was watching me. He then stood and moved toward the door. "I need to make a phone call." Then he was gone.

Morelli ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He then moved over to the bed where I was sitting and stared down at me, hands on hips.

"How do you do it?"

"What?"

"It's New York for Christ sakes. You're not even in Trenton and you're getting kidnapped." I flew off the bed, anger sparking in my eyes.

"So? How was I supposed to know there was a crazed maniac here that knew who I was." Morelli stared at me. I swallowed. Hard.

"What? Who knows you?"

"Um…Jarvis Jander."

"Jander? For crying out loud." Morelli ran a hand through his hair again, the action causing parts to stick up. Under normal circumstances, I'd have found it really sexy. Ok, so I still found it sexy. "Jander is the name of one of the gang members we picked up the night Junkman was killed."

"I know." He stared hard at me. "He told me." I saw a muscle in his jaw contract.

"I want you to go home. Now." My temper flared.

"Have you forgotten? I'm not exactly in the mood to talk to you right now." He gave a frustrated sigh and turned away.

"Nothing happened between Joyce and I. She came over to ask me to open a pair of handcuffs she'd gotten stuck on her wrists. I'd just taken them off and was ushering her out of the house when you arrived. It was bad timing." I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. Morelli stared at me.

He moved closer, gathering me in his arms. "Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

"You're incorrigible." He smiled.

"I know." I sighed and snuggled into his arms. He felt safe and I really wasn't upset anymore. In fact I was sure I couldn't even remember what we'd been fighting about in the first place.

He kissed the top of my head then cupped my face gently before kissing me soundly. The door opened and Tank walked in. He took one look at Morelli and me and back pedaled quickly into the hallway.

I blew out a sigh and pulled away from Morelli. He let me go.

"I guess you're forgiven, for now." Morelli tugged on my hair and smiled.

"I wish you'd go home."

"Not a chance, I feel responsible for Barbara and Ruth now. I have to see them safe." I saw the lines around his eyes harden. Then he rubbed his chest.

"What are you trying to do to me?" It was a rhetorical question as I wasn't trying to do anything and that was the problem. Things just happened to me on their own.

We were still standing there, staring at each other, neither knowing what to say when Ranger walked in. I was a little surprised because I didn't think Ranger would be happy if he'd walked in when Tank had.

I figured maybe he must think that I wouldn't do anything with Morelli while he was around. Either way, I wasn't sure I liked the assumptions he might be making.

"Tank thinks he found a trail." Joe nodded and gave me a long look before he followed Ranger out into the hallway. I grabbed my purse and followed.

I couldn't see either of them when I got into the hallway and I thought that was fine since I wanted to try and find Ahmed. I didn't really want to mention Ahmed in front of Ranger or Joe because Ahmed was a little responsible for my whereabouts.

I didn't hold him responsible but the fact he'd dropped me off at Jander's doorstep wouldn't win him any brownie points with Morelli or Ranger.

I took the stairs down to the lobby because I didn't want to risk running into either Morelli or Ranger and looked through the window in the door before pushing through.

I saw both Morelli and Ranger talking to Tank across the room, none of the three looked my way as I hurried out the front door. I stopped just outside of the door to catch my breath. I couldn't tell if I was breathless from running down three flights of stairs of from hiding from the men in my life.

I looked around for a cab and true to form, I found Ahmed lurking nearby and I hopped into his cab. He started driving and I took a deep breath. I was going to catch hell from Joe and Ranger but I needed to speak to Ahmed.

"Hey" I said by way of greeting.

"I'm so happy to see you alive and well. The fat one you were with, she came out of the building without you and I thought you were dead. She said you'd been taken and she needed to get out of there to get help." He was looking at me trying to gauge the truth by my reaction.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened."

"You're lucky to be alive young lady. Jarvis is not a man to trifle with."

"You know who he is?"

"Yes, I thought about that after you went in. I thought I should have warned you, but it was too late to call you back."

"What can you tell me about Jarvis?"

"Jarvis owns this block. All the girls are afraid of him. They say when you visit with Jarvis, you lose your soul. I'm not sure what that means, but none of the girls want to go with Jarvis." I shuddered. I had a feeling I knew what they meant.

Jarvis hadn't gotten far with me but I could feel the evil he possessed and it was like he sucked your life out just being near him. He was a person you felt helpless and hopeless around.

"Have you ever driven Jarvis?"

"Only once, I've managed to avoid him ever since. He didn't give me a tip and I didn't feel safe with him in my cab." I could definitely understand that.

"Do the girls ever talk anymore about Jarvis? I mean other than to say he steals souls?"

"They say he has two apartments he keeps girls at. One is the building I took you to, they seem less afraid of that one. The other is even further into the derelict area that we were in."

"Do they talk about what happens there?"

"They only say, hardly anyone is seen again after they go there." I shivered. That had been my fate. Luckily, Ranger and Joe had found me. I was very afraid for Barbara and Ruth. I was now aware that Barbara could very likely be dead but I holding out on that.

I was thinking that if I could find her soon, she'd still be ok. She might be banged up a little, but she'd be alive. Banged up is better than dead right? I was still contemplating the possibility of Barbara's demise when I saw Jarvis cross the road.

I knew it was him by instinct before visual recognition because of the terror that gripped me at the sight of him. I took a deep breath.

"Follow Jarvis." I leaned over the seat and pointed so Ahmed could see him.

"Oh no, you do not need to follow that one." I shook his shoulder.

"Follow him or I'll hop out and follow on foot!"

Ahmed, amazingly, got the car turned and going in the opposite direction and we were able to follow Jarvis as he walked down the sidewalk. We were driving at a snails pace and cars were honking at us.

I was afraid Jarvis would look up to investigate but he got into a black SUV and it pulled away from the curb.

Ahmed sped up and followed, tailing the SUV. My heart was thudding in my chest and I was feeling lightheaded. I really should go get Joe and Ranger, but I had to see where Jarvis was staying.

I had a feeling time was ticking away for Barbara and that she wouldn't have much time if she wasn't found soon.


	10. Chapter 10

(Same Disclaimer-If you know it it's Janet Evanovich)

We followed Jarvis as he wound through the streets of New York. We were in Manhattan and he was heading towards the mainland.

I gnawed on my lip. It was a bad idea to follow him out of Manhattan but I didn't want to lose him. I could feel in my gut that he would lead me to Barbara.

We crossed the bridge and hit the mainland then he turned south, heading along 295. After awhile I had a heart stopping moment that we were heading to Trenton but we got off the highway at East Brunswick.

We followed him through town and out to the country until he pulled into a farm. I was hoping this whole time we hadn't been spotted as a tail. I was sure he would have picked up a cab following him from Manhattan.

He never made any sign that he knew we were there. We watched him drive up the long, tree-lined lane and disappear into a copse of woods.

I was at a dilemma. I didn't want to chase Jarvis by myself. I already knew what he wanted to do to me, but Ranger and Joe were in Manhattan. Both men were probably frantically searching for me. I decided to call Ranger.

"Babe" he said. I could almost swear I heard relief in his voice. This wasn't typical of Ranger.

"Yo. I found Jarvis." The line was silent. I thought I heard muffled talking before Ranger finally spoke.

"Where are you?" _Uh oh._ I thought. He was saving punishment for when he was in person.

"East Brunswick." There was more silence and more muffled noises.

"Get somewhere public, don't move, and stay out of sight. We'll be there asap." I nodded, then realized he couldn't see me.

"Ok, fine, no problem." I hung up the phone. I didn't want to go after Jarvis, but I wanted Barbara found. I wanted to wait for backup, but I didn't want to sit and do nothing.

I decided I'd do a little investigating from a distance and scope the place out while I waited for backup. Ahmed was dead set against it when I told him the plan.

He threatened to drive away and put the car in drive and started to move. I opened my door and moved to jump and he sighed and stopped.

"Most women want to be wives, have families and be safe. Why do you put yourself in danger?" I clenched my teeth. I didn't want to be just another burg wife. That wasn't my style.

"I'm really concerned about Barbara; besides, Ranger and Joe will be here soon." I slipped out of the car and shut the door as quietly as I could. I then ran down the road a ways to where the trees were thicker.

A smart person would wait in the car. A smart person would let the big, scary men in her life handle the situation. Unfortunately, I wasn't a smart person. I really learned I wasn't a very smart person when I stepped into the trees.

As soon as I was inside the woods, out of sight of the road I heard a low growl. My heart stopped and time froze as I saw a big ball of fur standing several yards away.

At first I thought it was a wild dog, but then I saw the collar. This was a watchdog. _Damn._ I didn't have much time to plan and I climbed the nearest tree I could find.

I scraped my arms a couple times and almost fell a few times before I was safely perched in the tree, out of reach of the snarling beast at the base.

I heard a whistle and the dog stopped growling at me and trotted over to Jarvis who had just came into view. I froze. I was hoping he wouldn't see me, but I already knew that he knew I was there.

I was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was really wishing I'd taken orders from Ranger and gotten as far away as possible from Jarvis. Instead, I'd walked right into his trap. My only consolation was that Ranger and Joe knew where I was.

I waited, feet dangling from the branch I was on as Jarvis came and stood beneath the tree I was in. He reached up, grabbed my foot and yanked. I shrieked and came crashing down through the branches, landing with a sickening thud on my back.

I was gasping for air when the dog came and held me to the ground, holding me at the throat. I lay completely still, not daring to move, hardly daring to breath. Actually, I think I stopped breathing altogether.

"Well, we meet again Stephanie Plum. What a pleasant surprise." He had an evil grin on his face and I was cursing myself a thousand ways wishing Ahmed had just kept driving.

"I saw this tree and thought it would make a great tree house. I was checking it out." I was acting brave. Truth is, I was scared shitless and I was afraid this dog was going to decide I was a nice meal and eat me.

"This tree house awfully close to my home. You sure you wasn't spyin'?" I gulped.

"Nope, no spying. Fresh out of spying tools." He reached down and grabbed my hair and the dog let go of my throat. He started dragging me by the hair. I yelled and kicked out. My foot connected with the dog's nose and it dropped. I was afraid I'd killed it.

"Shit! You stupid bitch!" He let go of my hair and I scrambled to my feet and ran. I wasn't even sure where I was going I just started running. I was moving through the woods, blindly running, hoping to get away but not really believing I would.

I suddenly broke through the trees and was in the road. I heard tires screeching and turned just in time to see a black Porsche 911 Turbo careen off the side of the road into the trees. My breath caught in my chest. Ranger!

I ran to the car and he was climbing out the driver side window. The side of his face was covered in blood. I felt blood drain from my face and little black dots danced behind my eyes.

Suddenly there was a hand at the back of my neck, forcing my head down. I took a few deep breaths and stood back up. Ranger was in front of me and he'd wiped half the blood off but I could see the gash in his forehead.

"You're bleeding." I was gulping for air, hoping I wouldn't pass out.

"I'll live. What the hell were you doing?" Ranger was standing, arms akimbo at his sides, fists clenched. He was barely maintaining control. The words had been spoken calmly but there was a steely tone that let me know, he was just barely holding on.

"I thought I'd check the place out while I waited for you." I saw his eyes harden. It looked even scary through the blood on his face.

"I told you to get away from Jarvis." I lost it. I'd been held by the throat by a dog, dragged by the hair, almost watched Ranger die in front of me, I was hungry, upset, and my blood pressure was through the roof.

"Well I didn't listen!" He reached forward and pulled me too him, his mouth coming down hard on mine. All the fight went out of me, I deflated in his arms, reveling in the kiss thanking everything holy that he was alive.

"I could have killed you." There was an edge in his voice and I bit my lip, holding back tears. We heard a throat clear. We pulled apart and I looked up. Morelli.


	11. Chapter 11

(same disclaimer: If you know it it's Janet Evanovich)

I took a deep breath and stepped away from Ranger. He went to his car and started going through it while taking out his phone and making a call. I stayed turned away from Joe.

I wasn't really sure what to say. He hated my relationship with Ranger, whatever that was. He wanted Ranger out of my life. He hates my job. I blew out a sigh.

"I thought we were on again."

"We are."

"Then what the hell are you doing kissing Ranger?" I wasn't sure what to say to that. Ranger always kissed me, but telling Joe that would be suicide. I don't think he'd understand.

"He was just scared for my safety." Just then Jarvis burst out of the trees. He skidded to a stop then pulled a gun and shot at Joe and I. We both ducked for cover.

I checked my body looking for bullet holes, deciding I had none I looked for Joe. He was on the ground holding his leg. _Oh my God!_ _Joe got hit!_

I looked around, Ranger had his gun trained on Jarvis but Jarvis was running back into the trees. Ranger took a shot but Jarvis was already in the trees. We couldn't tell if he'd been hit or not, he'd have to be tracked.

I ran to Joe and knelt beside him, tears in my eyes. Joe wasn't perfect, but I loved him. I didn't want him hurt and I didn't want him to die.

"Joe! Joe! Can you hear me…Joe!" Joe looked at me like I was insane. "Sorry, I'm just a little upset."

"I'm alright cupcake." His voice was strained, but he'd called me cupcake, maybe I was forgiven.

"Are you alright? Did you get hit? How bad is it?" He sucked air in through gritted teeth.

"No I'm not alright, yes I got hit, and I don't have any fucking idea how bad it is." Yow, I was guessing it was pretty bad. I took off the sweatshirt I was wearing and wrapped it around his leg.

He hissed through his teeth as I pressed the shirt to his leg. I pulled the shirt away and bent to look.

The sight about gagged me and little black dots danced behind my eyes. I suppose it wasn't as bad as it could have been but seeing Morelli hurt was very upsetting.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault." I was crying, tears running down my face and I heard Morelli give a strained chuckle.

"It's alright cupcake. I'm going to be fine." He was starting to look pale. I got out my phone and dialed 911. He needed help fast and Ranger could probably use the back up.

I didn't see any of the Merry men about and Ranger didn't need to face Jarvis' gang alone. I was guessing he was on the phone with Tank getting back up but, the local cops might be faster.

I gave the dispatcher the info on the current situation and had an ambulance sent for Morelli. I asked if he'd be alright for a minute and headed over to Ranger.

Ranger had bandaged his head and was getting his equipment from out of his car. I filled him in on the situation and he gave me a hard stare.

"What? Joe needs help now. He's lost a lot of blood, I can't wait for you to finish the capture.

"Babe, I can't go in if the cops are here." He sighed and looked into the woods where Jarvis had disappeared after shooting. "I'm going in. I want to get Jarvis before the cops get here."

"Ranger…" He stopped me with a look and I sighed. He had maybe ten minutes before emergency vehicles would show up, if that. I knew Ranger though, that's all the time he needed.

Still, I was worried something would happen. I trusted Ranger though, so I put him from my mind and concentrated on Joe.

"Joe? How are you doing?" I wanted to keep him talking, keep him alert.

"I got shot in the leg, how do you think I'm doing?" He'd said it through gritted teeth, but I knew he was trying to lighten the mood, get me to stop worrying. It was a losing battle, I was worried more than could be imagined.

"Pretty crappy I guess. Stay with me Joe." I leaned down and kissed his forehead. I couldn't bear to lose him. I love Ranger, but I now realized that my life with Joe wasn't perfect, but we suited one another.

He had a legitimate job and a house in the burg near my parents. Sure, I'd been trying to escape the burg all my life, but when it came down to it, I was burg through and through.

Maybe I wouldn't settle for being a stay-at-home mom but I could be a burg wife and work right? It was the twenty-first century. I could do whatever I wanted.

Maybe I had to quit working for Vinnie but, it was a crappy job right? Maybe I could fine some common ground, that was somewhere between bounty hunting and a desk job.

I could go back to school and get a degree in something that was more suited to who I was. I could be a police officer.

Ok, so maybe I couldn't be a police officer because I was pretty sure being a police officer involved handling and shooting guns regularly and I didn't much care for guns. Maybe I could be a private investigator.

I would make it work. Joe and I just needed to set boundaries and I was willing to make sacrifices, if only he made it through.

_Stop it Stephanie._ I told myself. I wasn't thinking rationally. Joe would be fine. I know he would.

"Joe?" He didn't respond. I panicked. I shook him. I slapped his face. Nothing made him respond. I curled up against him and cried. I could feel him breathing and I was hoping the ambulance would get here soon.

Ranger was still in the woods looking for Jarvis and I could now hear sirens in the distance. I sent up a small prayer of thanks before I checked on Joe's leg. He'd lost so much blood.

I put my head between my legs to stop the blood pumping in my ears. I had to stay calm, I had to stay awake, and I couldn't let Joe down. He needed me.

I was still giving myself a pep talk when the ambulance arrived. Shortly after the first cop cruiser pulled in.

The EMT's hopped out of the ambulance and checked Joe. They pushed me aside, getting to work getting oxygen on him and running an IV while loading him into the ambulance.

They were asking me questions about what had happened, how he'd been shot and I told them as much as I could leaving out the part about Ranger crashing his car. I wasn't sure yet how to explain that one.

They finished loading Joe into the ambulance and I impulsively asked if I could ride with him. I bit my lip after I'd asked. I wanted to go with Joe but I was worried about Ranger.

I finally decided Ranger had the better chance, besides. I wanted to be there when Joe woke up and Ranger would find his way back.

I climbed in the ambulance and rode to the hospital with Joe. I was afraid I would gnaw a hole through my lip because there was so much they had to do to Joe to keep him stable.

He'd lost so much blood they thought he might need a transfusion but they had to wait until they got to the hospital. I'd told them Joe's blood type but they'd unfortunately didn't have that on hand.

I held Joe's hand when I could, crying and silently begging him to wake up. I loved him so much and I just now realized how much I wanted to be with him.

He was a solid part of my life. One of the few sane things in my life and I couldn't bear to lose him. He loved me and my parents liked him.

"Please wake up Joe. Don't leave me, not now, not when I haven't told you….how much…I truly love you." I started crying, tears streaming down my cheeks. "Please Joe….please."

OOO

After three hours of surgery and a blood transfusion, Joe was in critical care. If his stats held for another hour, he'd be moved to intensive care. I was sitting next to Joe's bed, holding his hand, talking softly to him.

I was telling him little things, like how much I missed him, how I forgave him for the Joyce incident, it hadn't been his fault, I knew how manipulative and deceiving she could be.

I also told how the kiss from Ranger didn't mean anything, he'd just been happy I was safe, and how much my mother would be looking forward to us coming over for dinner.

I was babbling but it was making me feel better. I didn't know if he could hear me, but I'd always heard that even when someone was in a coma they could sometimes remember what was said while they were out of it.

Joe wasn't in a coma, but he was sure out of it. I was hoping he could hear me. I was telling him things that had always been hard for me to verbalize when Joe was awake.

I had also thought a lot about Barbara. I was sure Jarvis had her and I was wondering if Ranger had found Jarvis and in turn had found Barbara.

So far I hadn't heard from him. This worried me. Ranger usually checked in with me and it had been hours since I'd last seen or heard anything.

The room phone rang and I answered it. Ranger.

"Babe" He sounded tired.

"Babe yourself what's going on?" I was trying to act calm and patient, both of which I wasn't.

"I found Jarvis, he had Barbara and the other woman you'd mentioned, Ruth. They were both severely dehydrated and locked in a bathroom. I don't think either had eaten anything for a few days."

"Wow, I'm glad you found them."

"Yeah, the police weren't too happy of my involvement. I was arrested but after talking with the chief of police and telling him everything, he'd let me go."

"That's it?" What did you tell him?"

"That I'd stumbled upon Jarvis about to shoot Barbara and Ruth and I'd talked him out of it, he'd instead shot himself." His voice was flat; I decided not to ask anymore questions. Ranger had killed for me before and I was pretty sure that's what had happened.

"How's Morelli?" He asked me casually.

"He's out of surgery, he had to have a blood transfusion. He's still sleeping but the doctors are optimistic." I let that hang in the air, I wasn't sure I could tell Ranger anything else. I still loved Ranger, but I knew my life was with Joe.

"Good. I'll check in again." He hung up. A small part of my heart constricted and ached for him, but I pushed it away. I knew what I had to do and I was finally ready to do it.

I was tired of living a double life. I wanted to settle down, I wanted kids. Oh shit. Did I just say I wanted kids? I guess I did, I hadn't really thought about it a lot.

I just wanted Joe better, I wanted a chance to be happy with Joe. _Please God._ I begged. _Let him survive. Give us a chance!_


	12. Epilogue

(same disclaimer: You know it it's Janet Evanovich.)

I looked in the bathroom mirror, putting the last few touches on my hair and make-up. I was nervous. I'd never been to a broadway production but Connie had begged Lula and I to go.

We'd both finally agreed and we tried to act thrilled. I was nervous because Joe was taking me and he was acting strange. We'd been talking of marriage but so far it had just been talk.

My spidey sense was telling me this was it. I already knew what my answer would be and my knees were shaking.

I slipped into my red strappy heels and smoothed my red slinky dress. It was perfect for the occasion I thought.

I was excited to see Barbara on stage even if I wasn't too sure about it being broadway. She'd given me a finder's fee for finding her. I wouldn't have to work for months with the amount she'd given me.

I'd had Ranger help me invest, with Joe's approval, and my return was more than I could have hoped for. I could be well off for the rest of my life.

Along with finding Barbara, the cops had found Digiorno's body buried in the basement. Why bodies were always buried in the basement, I'd never know. The last thing I'd want is a dead body in my house.

I'd been upset with Lula for bailing out on me when I'd needed her most, but she'd been the one to contact Ranger and tell him where I'd been abducted. I couldn't be mad at her for escaping to find me help.

Ahmed had never been discovered by Joe and Ranger but I'd told Joe about him and after his initial anger, he'd forgiven Ahmed and I'd given him a portion of the finder's fee because without him, I'd never have found Barbara.

Tank's cats had run away a few weeks ago and he and Lula had reconnected now that she could go to his house without breaking into hives. He was actually her date for the evening.

Connie, had found a date and Vinnie had opted out of the evening's activities. We weren't unhappy at the news.

"Steph, we better hurry if we don't want to be late."

"I'm coming Joe." I took one last look and headed downstairs. Oh yeah, I was now living full time with Joe. I'd moved out of my apartment after Joe had been released from the hospital. We were very happy.

"Ready cupcake?" He stopped short, whistling low at the sight of me. "On second thought, I don't like broadway." He wrapped his arms around me and whispered many alternatives to the evening's activities, many of which made my knees go weak and my mouth water.

"No! I promised Connie!" Joe sighed and pulled back and took my hand, tucking it into the crook of his elbow.

"Let's go cupcake." We headed out to his SUV and climbed in. I now had my Lexus but Joe still liked to drive when we went out. Men.

We rode in silence about halfway there, listening to soft music on the radio, holding hands.

"I booked reservations at a nice restaurant after the show." Joe shifted in his seat. He was trying not to look like a little boy at Christmas. I definitely knew this was the night.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it's a little more upscale, that's why I had you dress so fancy."

"Ok. I can't wait." We got to the theater ten minutes before the doors closed. We found Connie, her date, Lula, and Tank, and sat next to them.

"I've never been to broadway before" Joe whispered to me.

"Me neither." I whispered back

"Shush! It's going to start and I don't want to miss anything!" Connie hissed at us. No one talked after that.

OOO

"Wow, that was actually really good." I said as we left the theater. Joe had his arm wrapped around me, Tank and Lula were holding hands, and Connie seemed to also be enjoying her date, she had her arm through his.

"Yeah, I was skeptical about that name but that henny penny was a hoot." Lula said.

"Steph and I have reservations. We have to be there in twenty minutes." Connie and Lula both looked at me with eyes bugging out. I flicked my eyes to Joe and I could see they both wanted to ask questions.

Their dates ushered them away though and Joe lead me down the street to the restaurant. He'd conveniently got reservations at a restaurant we could walk to.

I thought about the past few months and how our relationship had changed as we walked. Joe and I had reached an agreement on the things in our lives that we had fought so much over in the past.

I agreed to quit my job, but only if I was allowed to become a private investigator. I'd looked into it and decided that I'd still get to solve puzzles and snoop around but it would be much safer.

Joe had consented and was very much relieved that I wouldn't be chasing down criminals anymore. I'm not sure he was entirely happy that I'd still get myself into trouble once in awhile, but at least it should be significantly reduced.

Ranger was the other issue we'd fought over so much. After much debate and only a little fighting, we'd reached a verdict on my relationship with Ranger. I wouldn't be around him when I was alone.

Also, Joe, or someone Joe trusted, had to be with me if Ranger was around. Also, I wouldn't go to or work for Rangeman anymore. That was fine with me because Ranger would always be a temptation for me and staying away greatly helped me not give in to that temptation.

Probably part of me would always wonder 'what if' where Ranger was concerned. I knew Ranger wasn't the marrying type. He'd told me so himself. I'd always love Ranger, but I knew we never had a chance for a future.

We entered the restaurant and were seated in a booth that was situated in an alcove. There were some hanging plants that had vines that also afforded a small bit of privacy.

I slid into the booth and Joe slid in next to me, kissing my bare shoulder when he was close enough. I opened the menu and stared at it. Joe was distracting me with his kisses and his hand had started to roam beneath the table.

"Joe, I can't look at the menu with you doing that!"

"That's the point."

"Joe! We're here to eat. We should order something!" Joe sighed and gave my shoulder one last kiss.

"I know, but I like to start with dessert first." I got warm in all the right places. I started looking through the menu again. The prices had my jaw dropped.

"Joe, this place is expensive!"

"It's a special occasion, we'll manage." I looked back to the menu, my nerves on end.

"I think I'll have the Fillet Mignon." I didn't recognize anything else and it seemed the way to go.

"I think I will too."

"You didn't even look at the menu!"

"I have something else on my mind." The waiter came back and took our order and poured wine into our glasses. I lifted my glass and went to take a sip and almost dropped my glass.

Inside the glass was a ring. I fished it out, wiped it off and stared, jaw dropped at it. The rock was huge and I figured Joe must have been saving quite awhile to afford it.

"Joe, this ring is amazing I…" He pressed a finger to my lips before sliding from the booth and dropping to one knee holding my hands.

"Stephanie Plum, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Tears spilled from my eyes and I slipped the ring onto my finger, staring at it. After a few moments, I realized I hadn't answered Joe and I blushed before throwing my arms around his neck.

"Yes, yes! A thousand times yes! Joe, I love you." I then kissed him with such fervor that our waiter had to clear his throat twice before we realized he was there.

"Dinner is served." He said as he placed our food before us after Joe was seated beside me again. We ate, though neither of us were really interested in the food.

After we ate, Joe paid the bill and we left the restaurant. We headed back to the SUV and hopped in, Joe driving as fast as he could, heading back to Trenton.

We did a lot of fondling and kissing as he drove and by the time we got back to the house, I was bra-less and panty-less and Joe was straining inside his pants.

He lifted me from the truck and hurried to the house, dropping his key twice as he tried to unlock the door.

We finally managed to get into the house and he ran up the stairs and tossed me onto the bed. He kicked his clothes off then sank on top of me kissing my mouth then down my neck to my breasts.

My hands were in his hair and my dress was half off, both of us panting heavily when my cell phone rang. Morelli swore and told me to ignore it but I pushed him away.

I grabbed my phone and answered. Joe started playing unfair. He started pinching my nipples while I talked.

"Hello!" I fairly squeaked into the phone as Joe gave a soft pinch.

"Stephanie? This is your mother." I groaned inwardly.

"Hi mom."

"Are you engaged Stephanie? I wanted to be the first to tell you congratulations and I'll call and get the hall booked for June. June is a great time for a wedding."

"Mom that's two months away! That's hardly enough time to plan the wedding!"

"Don't worry dear, I've got it all taken care of. You should see the bridesmaid dresses I picked out oh and I found a gown that would look beautiful! Now you tell Joe I said Hi. I have to go, I think your grandmother locked herself out of the bathroom again." She hung up and I thunked the heel of my hand on my forehead.

I looked at Joe, he was trying hard not to laugh. I smacked him in the arm.

"It's not funny! They already have everything all planned and…wait…you told them didn't you?!" I could see the guilt in Joe's eyes and I hit him again.

"How could you?! I want to plan my own wedding what if I get stuck with eggplant dresses again?" Joe was now laughing as he kissed me. The kiss turned hotter and we both forgot about the wedding as Joe's hands started exploring again.

My phone rang again and Joe cursed before pulling back.

"I'm going downstairs to make sure I locked the door." He left, I could tell he was frustrated. I looked at my phone. It was Lula.

"Hey what's up?"

"Hey yourself girlfriend. So tell me what happened with you and that hottie cop." I sighed inwardly again and recapped the evening for Lula leaving out the kissing bits.

"I knew it! Congratulations. I'm your maid of honor right? You wouldn't forget old Lula now would you? I'll come by tomorrow and we can go dress shopping." She hung up and I blew out a sigh. Maybe we should just elope.

Joe came back up and climbed in bed beside me. We started kissing again and just as things started to heat up again. My phone rang for a third time. Joe swore, grabbed my phone and flung it against the wall.

It shattered and I looked at him appalled.

"That was a new phone!"

"I'll buy another one! I was tired of interruptions!" I smiled. I was tired of them too. He leaned down and bit my nipple and I forgot about phones and everything else.

OOO

Two hours later, Joe and I were laying in bed exhausted and almost asleep.

"Do you think they'd forgive us if we eloped?" I asked sleepily.

"Cupcake, I think we'd have to move to another state if we eloped." I sighed.

"That's what I figured." I traced lazy circles on his chest. "We're finally going to get married."

"Yeah, scary thought huh?" I smiled and his eyes darkened to molten chocolate. We'd just had two hours of amazing sex, but suddenly, I wasn't tired anymore.

He kissed me and when his tongue touched mine, I forgot everything else and I got warm everywhere. This was something I was going to enjoy for the rest of my life. Falling asleep every night in the arms of the man I loved.

Joe wasn't perfect, but he was darn well close enough.

(Thanks for reading! Sorry it took so long for posting chapters. Next story I write I'll finish it first before I post lol! I hope you enjoyed and sorry for the "babes" out there, promise I'll have a babe story sometime! This just sort of turned itself into a "cupcake" story!)


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